Author Archives: Gary Barzel

Coming up against an unhappy customer can be unpleasant at best and downright damaging at at worst- threatening to drive away other customers and derail your efforts to run a successful business. But it is an inevitable part of doing business. You just can’t please everyone all the time. That said, there are many ways […]

Given the way people use the Internet to make purchasing decisions these days, if you own a small brick and mortar business you really need to invest in your online presence. Just make sure that investment includes Google and it’s social network G+. So I’ll stop here and say that this is not a post […]

Unless you live under a rock, it’s hard to escape the buzz surrounding Facebook’s recent IPO. Unfortunately for the social media juggernaut most of this attention has been negative. A simple search online for the phrase “Facebook IPO” brings up a whole roster of unflattering expressions, such as “horrendous,” “fiasco,” “disaster,” and of course, “flop.” […]

With the rising costs of health care and the tangible benefits that come with living a healthy life style, it’s almost a no-brainier that implementing a wellness program in your small business can offer a potentially big payback. And don’t think that it will necessarily cost you big bucks. Just because you can’t afford to […]

Despite an urge to paint email usage as out-dated and irrelevant compared to all the popular, fast-paced social media platforms out there, small business owners should not discount email as a primary marketing medium. The fact is that email marketing just works; whereas the jury is still out when it comes to leveraging the surge […]

Conducting an online survey is a great market research tool that can give you invaluable insight into your target market’s attitudes, behaviors, and make up. But creating an effective online questionnaire or poll (even a short one) involves much more than just throwing together a few of your burning questions. It is a thought-out and […]

If you are thinking about starting a small business, then chances are you are going to need some outside advice, training, and other various forms of support along the way to get your venture up and running. Luckily, there are many, many organizations and individuals you can turn to in order to get the support […]

As the economy continues to huff and puff along, many would-be entrepreneurs and professionals may be debating the value of investing in a business-related degree as opposed to making their way in the working world or taking an entrepreneurial route without that big, framed certificate hanging on the wall. After all, there are countless people […]

When it comes to marketing a business the frequent complaint from small biz owners is that marketing rarely works or just isn’t worth the expense. For those business owners I offer the reasons below as to why that may seem to be true.   1.) You Try to Do It Yourself. Yeah, I know, you’d […]

As life and business seem to be approaching the speed of light, the need for cheap, nimble electronic payments and personal money transferring services has only increased. But if you are relying on either your bank or a traditional payment processor to move your money, then chances are you’re swooning in fees and long waits […]