Business Tips

I get questions on a daily basis about social media marketing, digital media, entrepreneurship, SEO, retail, and many other topics through various outlets. These questions come through my website, social media platforms, forums like Quora / Reddit / Google / Inbound.org, and other outlets. When I have a lot of information to share on a particular subject I'll usually write an in-depth answer in the form of an article here... but I don't always have the time. Sometimes I just give a quick answer, or whatever comes to mind first without edits.  It's actually ending up feeling a bit like hustling entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk 's book #AskGaryVee (which I'm finishing now before posting a review), but I've actually been doing this for years with previous businesses.  This will be my first installment of Bootstrap Business Blog Blitz, tackling quick questions from readers, viewers, peers, and friends. You'll also see plenty of internal links throughout which bri...

These days, the kind of theft that many businesses are worried about isn’t armed robbery, shoplifting or even employees stealing office supplies. Instead, it’s the theft of a company’s intellectual property. Perhaps there is no intellectual property more valuable than trade secrets. These are what give a business an edge in a competitive market. Below are five strategies that can be used to keep your trade secrets safe.  1. Accurately Identify Your Trade Secrets  Before you can take action to protect your trade secrets, you must first identify them. For example, if you run an Italian restaurant, your pizza sauce recipe could be a trade secret. However, trade secrets don’t have to be secret formulas. They could also be information you have amassed such as customer lists, supplier information, product profit margins and more.  2. Hire An Intellectual Property Lawyer  S econd, you should learn about the laws that were put in place to protect trade secrets. On the feder...