Janine Popick

By Janine Popick The run up to the holiday season has arrived, and the National Retail Federation predicts that consumer holiday spending will increase 3.9 percent over 2012 spending to hit $602 billion. Yes, that’s billion. To help your small business get a piece of that action, I’ve put together a few creative holiday promotions […]

By Janine Popick Have you ever sat through a meeting that was so unorganized that you spent the whole hour thinking you’d rather poke pencils in your eyes? So many meetings lack the simple basics like preparation, an agenda and a desired outcome. Are we all just meeting to meet, and if so why? There’s […]

By Janine Popick As the leader of your company, you’re tasked with a million things, and it’s easy to get caught up in the routine of meeting after meeting after meeting. But what are you missing by being walled in all day? A lot, I’d argue. That’s why I think it’s vitally important that the […]

By Janine Popick When you have an engaged group of customers and prospects who want to hear from you, getting the word out about your business, your services and your offers is much easier. However, people change email addresses faster than hairstyles these days (industry averages say that you will lose one-third of your list […]

By Janine Popick When it comes to marketing your business, it’s crucial to establish an ongoing relationship with customers and prospects, especially when you’re just starting out. And once you start collecting email addresses from folks that want to hear from you, you need to send a welcome email, stat! The welcome email is the […]

— By Janine Popick If you’ve ever watched the popular show, Shark Tank, you’ve witnessed budding entrepreneurs pitch their ideas, products or services to “shark” investors. You can apply many of the Shark Tank lessons to real life, too, whether you’re looking for investors or just delivering a quick pitch about your company. These three tips […]

— By Janine Popick No matter what size company you own – from one to hundreds or even thousands of employees – your people need to know what’s going on so they can stay up-to-date and feel that they’re part of your company growth. After being in business for 12 years, I’ve seen my company […]

— By Janine Popick, CEO, VerticalResponse If I told you that can grow your business by giving away your product or service for free, you’d probably call me crazy. Sure, for some businesses — the kind with high start-up fees or entry-level products, for example — it might be cost-prohibitive to give a sample or […]

–By Janine Popick If you’re in the business of serving customers (which most, if not all, of us are), then you know the mantra, “the customer is always right.” Well, I’m here to say, that’s not always the case. Some of you may be clutching your proverbial pearls, but let me explain. All good business […]

By Janine Popick As much as it sucks to hear that a customer or potential customer chose to do business with someone else, competition is a good thing. It keeps you on your toes and motivates you to continue innovating, creating and pushing through new ideas. Knowing what your competitors are doing is a great […]