Educating customers is an excellent way to provide value with your marketing. Offer a free class, seminar, or online course designed to help your customers be more successful with your products.

When You Help Someone Better Themselves, They Will Usually Return the Favor

Don’t use your education platform to push your products too hard, or the whole thing may backfire. If your education is effective, the law of reciprocity says that most customers will return the favor by making a purchase.
– The Startup Daily

The phrase “That’s not my job” has no place in a functional business—especially a startup. The work that needs to be done to achieve success rarely fits neatly into the predefined roles and job descriptions.

The Goal is More Important than the Role

A leader’s job is to get the work done. When leaders look for people to promote, they look to others who take responsibility for getting problems solved and getting the job done. Demonstrating a willingness to do whatever it takes to move the company forward will get you noticed as a natural leader.
– The Startup Daily

Changes that used to take decades now play out in a matter of months. Adapting quicker than the competition is your best chance at winning.

Business is No Longer About Small Beating Big, It’s About Fast Beating Slow

Organizations that encourage improvising and acting on incomplete information will leave the indecisive and the over-analytical behind.
– The Startup Daily

For every pair of shoes sold, TOMS gives a pair of new shoes to child in need. Many thought that this One for One idea, although commendable, would complicate their ability to build a profitable business. Instead, this story is what enabled their success.

When You Have a Compelling Story, People Become Customers to Become Part of that Story

A good story opens doors and breaks down barriers. Most importantly, when a customer cares about the story—because they are part of it—they will tell that story to everyone they can.
– The Startup Daily

Acquiring a customer is the hard part. Once you have them in the door and ready to buy, anything else you sell them is going to increase your profit per customer.

One in Three Customers Will Buy Something Else at the Point of Purchase if Offered

Be sure that you have appropriate add-ons to offer your customers when they are in a buying state of mind—at the point of sale.
– The Startup Daily

The drive to fight and win against an enemy will stir passion in your employees and your customers.

Having an Enemy to Overcome is a Powerful Motivator

Your enemy doesn’t have to be your competition. Your fight can be a cause such as “ridding the world of bad software.”

Having a clear flag for people to get behind will attract people to your cause.
– From The Startup Daily

From the Beatles to Bill Gates, the very best in any field were given the opportunity to put in 10,000 hours of practice with their chosen skill.

To put into perspective just how much work 10,000 hours is, that’s approximately three hours a day for ten years.

It Takes a Minimum of 10,000 Hours of Practice to Become a World Class Expert in Something

Putting in your 10,000 hours is not a guarantee of success. But when opportunities come along, those with 10,000 hours of practice under their belt are in the best position to maximize those opportunities.
– From The Startup Daily

You’ve already given your employees telephones and email. Social media tools are just faster and more direct versions of these communication tools.

If You Don’t Trust Your Employees to Communicate with Good Judgement, You Have a Hiring Problem, Not a Social Media Problem

Participation in today’s real-time business climate requires as many people from your company to be engaged in social media as you can muster. To discourage employees who are eager to adopt these new tools is counterproductive.

Yes, you need to establish guidelines to make sure your people understand the company’s objectives and to help them deal with sticky situations, but once people know the rules you need to trust them to use common sense.
– From The Startup Daily

If your business has only one salesperson, or if you are ready to hire your first one, consider hiring two instead.

Sale Reps are Naturally Competitive—You Will Get More Value by Hiring Two and Letting them Compete

A lone salesperson will have very little to gauge their own performance with, while two will continually try to outdo each other.
– From The Startup Daily

In many industries it has become standard practice to treat vendors and other partners like the enemy. They are given little respect, and squeezed for every dime.

If you plan to stay in business for any length of time, you need to eradicate this short-term thinking.

Give Your Partners the Same Level of Service and Respect that You Give Your Customers

In most cases, your goals are the same—to increase the size of your respective pieces of pie. You can achieve this by fighting over the same slices, or by increasing the overall size of the pie. By fostering collaborative relationships, you and your partners can share valuable insights and knowledge that can help you both grow your businesses.

Instead of being unpleasant and adversarial, your relationships with partners can become one of the most valuable parts of your business.
– From The Startup Daily