This post was originally featured on Startup Grind We’ve all heard the saying “Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.” But most startups haven’t learned that lesson — and it shows in their output. Small businesses invest far too much time and money perfecting their initial products or services. They spend months … More 6 Ways to Fuel Your Innovation w/ Customer Insight
I had big plans this past weekend. BIG. As I left Trader Joe’s, my wildly distracted mind filled with endless tasks that I knew there wasn’t enough time in the weekend to complete. I don’t think we truly realize how unnecessarily stressed, distracted and disconnected we are until we are knocked on our asses. I … More A Life-Saving User Experience
This post was originally featured on Switch&Shift.com Massive tasks or projects have the capacity to strain the limits of any company’s knowledge and resources at times. The CEO must decide if it’s worth spending valuable time and money to tackle something that could dramatically affect the team’s productivity. Often, only an outside third party can … More How to Make the Most of Strategic Business Partnerships
The days of brands pounding their chests telling everyone how great they are, are behind us. Consumers value humility in brands, just like all humans value humility in one another. I was listening to a sermon the other day and the pastor was discussing likability. There are a few key factors that we all value … More Humble marketing: Is your brand likable?
This post was originally featured on CEO.com The financial industry is in flux. Until recently, getting a loan was highly difficult for people with less-than-stellar credit. Traditional products are designed for borrowers with 700-plus credit ratings. It’s a standard that penalizes the 56 percent of Americans who have subprime scores and completely excludes the 45 million … More If Your Lending Strategy Is Costing Quality Customers, You’re Doing It Wrong
This post was originally featured on Noobpreneur.com and was co-authored with the lovely Kelsey Martin, Bristlecone’s director of people and culture. It’s a common assumption in startups these days: In order to find good talent, you have to look toward Silicon Valley or New York, even if you’re based in mid-America. The thought goes that if … More 6 Ways to Harness Local Talent for Your Startup
Working in a startup is not glamorous. In fact, anyone that has told you that it’s easy and the days are full of ping-pong games, flex schedules and unlimited vacation is a sissy. More days than not, it’s difficult. I define difficult as incessant resistance. Every time I turn around resistance is showing it’s ugly … More Entrepreneurship isn’t for Sissies
This blog was originally posted on Startups.co If your customers were to make a list of all the ways they’d like to spend their evenings, how many things would they list before they got to “calling a customer service department with a complaint?” A million? And when they do call, which experience do you think … More Put the Transactional Service Approach to Rest — Celebrate Your Customers
This is a post I have been wanting to get out for a bit as I have witnessed business after business fail miserably with their vendors. Just so that we are all on the same page, what is a vendor? A vendor is a third party who provides a niche service to assist your company, … More How Businesses are Blowing it with their Vendors
It takes time, energy, it can be a drag if not done properly, and it often gets overlooked. The only way to fulfill your brand promise is through training. On-boarding: Just do it. There are a lot of things that you cannot control when it comes to brand perception, but you can start with the … More How to Guarantee Your Brand Promise
Humble Brand 