This is a guest post by Joel Fortner. He is a Small Business Marketing Coach and the creator behind the Get Serve Keep marketing blog. At the end of the day, you want marketing to drive people to your business who will buy. Oftentimes though, businesses don’t have a clue whether they’re marketing actually does that or
How To Fix Your Broken Marketing Read More »
In a recent reader survey, we discovered something interesting: Most of you are either full-time entrepreneurs or planning to start your own business soon. Creating a professional and profitable brand doesn’t happen by accident. It takes clarity, strategy, discipline — and the right tools. Whether you’re just getting started or refining your systems, here are
6 Tools We Use to Build a Professional, Profitable Brand (Updated 2026) Read More »
Crystal Paine is the creator of moneysavingmom.com and author of the soon-to-be-released book, Say Goodbye to Survival Mode. On today’s podcast, Crystal and I talk about not quitting and how she turned Money Saving Mom into one of the highest-trafficked personal finance blogs on the web.
Crystal is a true entrepreneur and built her thriving business on a shoe string budget by becoming a self-taught expert on search engine optimization, web development and social media. She shares her insight on Facebook and Pinterest as well as building a virtual team and serving people.
You don’t want to miss this information! https://soundcloud.com/chrislocurto/crystal-paine-interview
Pre-order Say Goodbye to Survival Mode by Crystal Paine now and check out my Q&A Series Video, Dinner with Crystal Paine.
16 | Interview with Crystal Paine Read More »
https://soundcloud.com/chrislocurto/coffee-with-chris-you-get-what/s-KnhdU
This is the gift-giving time of year and there’s no greater blessing in life than to be a giver. Many of you are small business owners, entrepreneurs and team leaders but let me remind you – your business is what you do not who you are. When you make your business your life, you’re missing out on life. You’re sure not able to give of yourself either.
Colossians 3:12 – You must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
There’s only one way to clothe yourself with mercy and kindness and patience and that’s to take care of yourself. I’m not telling you to be selfish, but if you don’t take care of you, you don’t have anything else to give.
As you take time this holiday to step away from work, make sure that you’re scheduling time to replenish, exercise and create balance in your life. Going forward into the new year:
When you do these things, you can pour yourself out into other people. You get what you give. Take care of yourself and help those around you be the best they can be.
15 | You Get What You Give Read More »
This is a guest post by Joel Fortner. He is a Small Business Marketing Coach and the creator behind Get Serve Keep. Just because someone inquires about your product or service and then disappears doesn’t mean they’re not still interested. It’s very common to mistaken a quiet lead for a dead one. Don’t mistaken a
A Proven 2-Step Method To Turn Dead Leads Into Customers Read More »
What if you had a way of knowing what your greatest opportunities were as well as the most important things your organization should be focusing on right now?
Most entrepreneurs start their business by discovering a way to make a widget or provide a service and sell it. They’ll spend countless hours and years struggling to figure out a way to grow exponentially, create reoccurring income, and find a life in the process.
While many business owners have continued growth, what they don’t see is the incredible number of opportunities being missed on a daily basis. On top of that, they continue to hire people in positions that they perceive to be necessairy. All along not knowing if some, or most of the positions are needed.
Are there other areas they should be focusing their time and money on? Are there areas of the company that shouldn’t exist? What are the opportunities that are being missed, and what’s the best way to capitalize on them?
When I started my business, I knew everything I did would be centered around helping people find purpose in their lives, growing leaders to greatness, and impacting businesses on levels bigger than they ever experienced.
I added some processes to what I’ve been teaching businesses and leaders on for over a decade, and developed our Strategic Planning Event.
The event has been so powerful to so many businesses, that I asked just a few of them to share their stories about the event.
“You can’t run your business at the level it has the potential to be unless you have this information.” – Brian Staley, ITG
If you’re ready to take your business to the next level, click here and get more information. Don’t wait for growth, make it happen today!
Why Strategic Planning Matters Read More »
Don’t skip todays podcast! I get it, budgeting and accounting are the type of words that typically equal brain freeze or mental check out.
Guess what? Businesses that don’t know how to budget fail. Leaders that don’t know how to budget fail. I know digging into excel spreadsheets and accounting software can be painful tasks but they’re so important to your success. So important, I’m sharing my personal budgeting spreadsheets with you and explaining how to get on top of your profit and loss right now!
https://soundcloud.com/chrislocurto/budget-correctly-or-fail
While you’re listening, download these budget forms and take a look at what I’m talking about. If you’ve got any questions or comments, please leave your feedback below!
6 | Budget Correctly or Fail Read More »
I coach entrepreneurs all the time on creating a game plan for the future. A few months back, I worked with an inventor that had a billion dollar idea…but it was just an idea. How do you take an idea and turn it into a billion dollar company? Today’s Q&A Series video dives into this question.
Focus on what you have to do today!
Sometimes we get so focused on the future that we lose sight of the here and now. It’s great to be excited about the potential of a project or new company, but determine the major gates so you can create a process to move forward. Major gates are absolutes and they must be passed before you take the next step, like:
From an Idea to a Billion Dollar Company – Q&A Series Read More »
I’m so excited I will soon share the RoadTrip 2013 stage with Seth Godin, my buddy Crystal Paine, and a whole host of awesome speakers! And the great thing is you have a chance to win a ticket to the entire event!
[caption id="attachment_16566" align="aligncenter" width="532"] The RoadTrip event planners outlined speakers, trainings, workshops and networking events with these percentages of focus.[/caption]More about that in a minute. First let me give you a little heads up on what RoadTrip 2013 is:
Join us October 10-12 {2013} in Cincinnati, Ohio, for three amazing and fun-filled days of hands-on workshops and inspirational keynotes. The RoadTrip Event will give your brand and business, obtainable and implementable strategies and tactics for sustainable business growth and longevity.
So much more than a “business,” “social media,” or “technology” conference; RoadTrip 2013 is a Branding & Strategy educational experience that will change your life, then your business and ultimately your brand. The conference is teaching intention in aligning blogs, products, business, and brands with the core values of the business.
How fun is that?! I’ve already given away a bunch of tickets to the event, and now I’m giving away five more!! If you don’t win one, you can get $500 off ANY ticket by using the code CLoTribe at RoadTrip 2013.
But here’s how you can win:
I will pick two winners this Friday, and a winner each Friday there after. So don’t stop promoting, because it just might get you a free ticket!!!
An Awesome Event and Your Chance To Be There! Read More »
I coach entrepreneurs and small business owners on how to structure their businesses every week. Todays question from Erick is one I get often:
The 5 D’s are death, disaster, disability, divorce and disagreement but I’ve got a 6th. Don’t. Don’t do it. Don’t even think about it. Business partnerships don’t work and today’s Q&A Series video explains why.
Structuring a Partnership Without Partnering – Q&A Series Read More »