I know that might not seem like a big deal to Hollywood folks, but to us northern California laymen, it kind of is. And since the world is becoming smaller and smaller with the growth and proliferation of social media, you need to embrace -- and be careful of --...

My marketing company, VerticalResponse, was probably in business about five years before we put a stake in the ground and said, "We're going to help our community!"

Why did it take us so long? Because I thought you had to be Salesforce.com or Google to really make...

If you're running a successful business by your standards, then good for you. But I'm going to drop this bomb: It could be better by leaps and bounds just by asking your customers the simple question, "How did you hear about us?"

You might think I'm nuts saying you could...

So you think you can't add another feather to your quiver of things to do to make your business successful. I know, the No. 1 enemy of the small business owner is time -- time to do the things that make people aware of your business and your products, time...

I recently got interviewed by one of my employees who is looking to hone in on his career path. He's a newly appointed manager and he wants to make sure he's on the road to success. The topic: How do you motivate people?

I was kind of blindsided by the...

Ten years ago when I launched my email marketing company, VerticalResponse, I was lucky not to have any problems getting the most obvious domain name, www.verticalresponse.com. No one had it, so I snapped it up. These days, it's a lot harder for new businesses. Roughly 220 million domain...

When you're starting your business, you want things to happen fast. You have some choices to make. You can choose to have the perfect store layout where everything to the last shelf is quintessential, you can have the perfect office environment where every chair has to match and your phones...

Ever since I started my company, VerticalResponse, we've done something to celebrate the holidays. For us, the end of the year is our busiest time. Our employees are running hard, making sure our customers' email marketing campaigns get out the door because for many small businesses, this is...

There has been so much hype around Kim Kardashian's life, hasn't there? I have to admit, I keep up with Kardashians (sorry, President Obama!) and I love it. But what about all the "haters?" I constantly hear comments like, "What makes that family so special?" or "What does Kim do?"...

It's a growing pain that many small businesses have. Company founders and CEOs are rarely equipped to handle financing strategies, budgets and dealing with investors. But bringing on a chief financial officer is not cheap. If your company's revenue is growing quickly, you have new investors and/or you've received venture...