Macroeconomics and Entrepreneurship in 2005

There are many paradigms through which people measure the level of entrepreneurship. One paradigm examines entrepreneurship as the event that occurs when capital, marketable ideas, and managerial talent are combined. Another paradigm attempts to explain entrepreneurship as a cultural phenomenon, with certain cultures more apt to foster entrepreneurs while others which readily punish entrepreneurial attempts.…

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12 Pieces of Advice for Erstwhile Entrepreneurs

As I think back to my 22 years as an entrepreneur, I have come up with a dozen important pieces of advice that I suggest that anybody who embarks on this track should follow. Here they are: Facing the Challenge of Doing Business and Getting Business – This is the universal trap most new entrepreneurs…

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How I Became an Entrepreneur

Entrepreneurs in some ways resemble great leaders. Some are born entrepreneurs. Some become or evolve into entrepreneurs, and some have entrepreneurship thrust upon them. My entry into entrepreneurship came about through the third scenario. I never really considered going into my own business until I was confronted with unforeseen circumstances. I was vice president and…

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FREE Advice for Creating a Business Plan

Even if you are not interested in obtaining financing, your first step on the road to entrepreneurship is developing your business plan. And, the Web has loads of free advice. The editors of The Wiglaf Journal have reviewed a half dozen sights that are loaded with valuable information. These six are just several of the…

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Hints for Making Your E-Mail Marketing More Effective

There is no question that e-mail, when used properly, can revolutionize your business-to-business sales and marketing effort. No longer must you fight voice mail loops and struggle to talk to people who hide behind their voice mail. No longer must you use expensive and time-consuming “snail mail” and wait for endless deliveries and responses. Only…

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10 Easy Ways to Lose a Customer

While businesses will willingly invest large sums of money to try to attract new clients or customers, they often let valuable relationships slip away through simple acts of carelessness and failure to identify with the needs of the customer/client. Today’s business environment is brutal. Not only is it difficult to attract new business, competitors seem…

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FUD – Use with Care.

Sowing the seeds of FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt) has a long history as a tool for swaying decision making. It would be difficult to isolate its first implementation. Even our personal confrontation with FUD stretches back to the playground bully uttering threats, and perhaps to incidents before these. FUD’s value to sales and marketing…

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Search Engine “Bait and Switch”

As the World Wide Web continues to become a dominant marketing communications force in the business-to-business marketplace, the power of the search engines and some of their policies are becoming tested in the courts. The B2B marketer should become increasing cognizant of its own Web presence and how the search engines direct potential customers to…

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The Decline and Fall of the AT&T empire

It’s hard to imagine a more perfect marketing machine than was AT&T before the 1984 divestiture. This company virtually owned local telephone service in the United States with approximately a 90 percent market share. Its Long Lines division dominated long distance service. Its manufacturing arm – Western Electric – was an industrial giant that produced…

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Are You Alienating 75% of Your Prospects??

Have you ever walked into someone’s office for a meeting and noticed that he checks his watch before he even sits down? Or perhaps you’ve arrived at someone’s office for a meeting and he seems to take forever to get around to talking about business. While I’m sure you have built a dynamite presentation for…

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