The Chief Customer Officer (CCO) Movement…Are You Ready?

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I recently blogged about the movement by organizations toward a new CXO position: Chief Customer Officer. As a consultant, you need to be aware of this new role in organizations for several reasons: Increase your value to your clients: if you see an organization that is suffering from customer churn and wants to do something about, you can raise the idea of adding a CCO to the org chart.  You will be sharing a leading edge idea and can refer them to resources such as the CCO Council for … [Read more...]

Tax Tips for Consultants: IRS Rules on Scanning Receipts

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Years ago, if you were in an audit, you were obligated to produce original receipts.  If you didn’t have original receipts, you lost the deductions. Now that we are in the electronic age, the IRS recognizes the desire to go paperless.  Therefore, the IRS now accepts legible and readable copies of your original receipts. The IRS has a Revenue Procedure Code 97-22 that provides guidance to taxpayers for maintaining books and records by using an electronic storage system.  Records … [Read more...]

7 Proven Strategies For Going Viral

Do you want your message to spread far and wide – without a whole lot of marketing effort on your part? It sounds like a dream come true – the dream of going viral. Getting hundreds and thousands of clicks and opt-ins for your “thing” and having other people pass it along for you! When your free gift goes viral, you get the credibility boost of having other people talk about it instead of you having to make all the marketing noise for yourself… which gets to be a little huffy and … [Read more...]

Why Paying for a Premium WordPress Theme Will Save You Money

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As a WordPress web site developer, I hear so many clients say they want to use a free theme because they don't want to spend money when you can get one for free.  I then explain why a premium theme is a good investment if you believe in your business and Internet success. Premium themes means paid for.  The premium theme companies continue to support their theme by offering updates for new WordPress versions and security fixes.  Most offer technical support for the annual fee. WordPress … [Read more...]

Identifying the Value of Your Consulting Service

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Imagine that you are at a party explaining your consulting business to someone who has never heard of your business before. Think about what they might ask you. You would probably be asked about what your product or service did and the size or your business. There might be some questions about how your product or service serves your customers. Since this person at the party is new to hearing about your business, you’d most likely want to present your information in a way that would be easy to … [Read more...]

Today’s Mobile Web Sites with WordPress

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Have you looked at your web site on you tablet or mobile phone and wondered how you could get it to display differently so it was easier to use by the visitor?  Are you finding your analytics reports showing an increase in web traffic via mobile but your bounce rate is higher than non mobile traffic? You're not alone and it's likely one of the next requirements that web designers are going to be asked to include in building or fixing a web site is including a mobile version. Today's mobile … [Read more...]

Harness the Emotions of Change and Use Them to Propel You Forward

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Change brings many emotions, often strong ones. Each one packs its own kind of power. Harness and use the energy of emotion, whatever it is. These are some of the emotions you may experience during change, and ways you can use them to move you forward: - Excitement Use excitement to drive you ahead, ever closer to the desirable future you imagine...and through the sometimes unnerving, sometimes exhilarating process of not quite knowing how something new will work … [Read more...]

Thumbs-Down On Boring eBooks and Blah-Blah Gifts

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I'm taking a stand... with a big, bold thumbs-down on boring ebooks and blah-blah gifts.  You know the ones I'm talking about... The ebook that you open, take one look at and sigh. You were so excited to download this free "amazing" thing and then when you got it, you felt let-down. Deflated! Because this ebook turns out to be page after page of dull and droning text slapped into Microsoft Word and then made into a PDF. Perhaps there's an image or two sprinkled in, but it's just not … [Read more...]

3 Secret Strategies for Designing A Profitable Event Brand

You’re throwing your event to do all sorts of very exciting things for your business, right? You want to increase your credibility, raise your visibility, get some industry attention, grow your list, position yourself as an expert, create a memorable and fabulous experience for your clients, attract new clients, build buzz, and oh-so-very-much more. Oh, and of course, we all know that you’re hosting this event for one big reason – to make your offer and profit from it! Guess how … [Read more...]

Tax Time: Entertainment Deductions – Half the Fun?

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Basic Rules: Here are some basic rules you need to know to ensure that all your entertainment expenses are deductible: Do you have an ordinary and necessary business reason for the entertainment? Did you have a quiet business discussion before, during or after the event? No discussion, no deduction!  You’ll need to explain why the entertainment would benefit your business in the future. The discussion must be conducted in a business setting that allows an active business discussion.  … [Read more...]