‘Tis the season for giving, but for some startups, donating to charity is a year-round endeavor. These companies aim to “help the world,” which might also be a smart business plan: A recent study by Cone Communications finds 91% of Americans want to see companies support worthy issues – up 8% since 2010. Here’s a look at six businesses committed to charity: 1. TOMS TOMS, which sells shoes and eyewear, popularized the “one-for-one” giving model: The company donates a pair of shoes to children in need for every pair purchased.  After making a name for itself with its shoes, the company branched out into eyewear; with every sunglasses purchase, TOMS will pay to restore or save the eyesight of one individual. According to the company, TOMS has donated 10 million shoes and saved the eyesight of 150,000 people in more than 60 countries. Earlier this year, the company launched an online marketplace to highlight other companies that are giving back as well. 2. Warby Parker Eyewear startup Warby Parker also operates on a one-for-one model, donating a pair of eyeglasses to someone in need with each pair bought. The e-commerce company has distributed more than 500,000 pairs thus far, working closely with non-profit partners like VisionSpring. 3. Harry’s Shaving startup Harry’s was co-founded by Jeff Raider, who also helped start Warby Parker. Raider continues to give back with his new company, donating 1% of all sales and 1% of employee time to charity. In the past, Harry’s has donated to non-profit org The Mission Continues, […]

If your business has a professional marketing team, chances are you think they will take care of everything on their own. It’s a common misconception that there is nothing you can do on your end to help them out. If you are one of the many who think this, you are sorely mistaken. In fact, a lot of what your marketing team even does hinges on you and how well you work with them. Learning what small steps you can take to properly utilize your marketing team can make all the difference in the world. Let’s take a look at what those few small things are. Communicate The number one most important thing in properly utilizing your marketing team is to communicate… often. Ask what marketing campaigns are going on, how people are interacting, and what has been working or not working. You should also ask if the marketing campaigns have been successfully translating to sales. In return, offer any new information your marketing specialists ask of you to the fullest of your abilities. Answer all of the questions they may have, and work with them to come up new ideas or directions for your campaigns. Take Notes Throughout your day take notes on things which may be of importance to your marketing team. Send these notes over to your lead marketer at the end of each day. While it is nearly impossible to take notes on everything, here are a few things you will definitely want to note down […]

Many small businesses are the owners of incredibly ugly and performance-lacking websites. This isn’t necessarily their fault since many simply do not know good design. It’s kind of like a mechanic being shocked that a car owner doesn’t know where camshaft is and what it does. I’ve worked with many clients who do not know what they want when it comes to their websites. Some find five totally different websites that they like, and others won’t tell you until you show them a few examples. That’s why I believe it is up to the Web designer to drive the direction of your website. Find a Professional Designer So the first step would be to find a professional Web designer. Unless you have been educated in design and have a lot of time to dedicate to learning the craft, you probably cannot do it yourself. This isn’t a “one click and you’re done” scenario. Good design takes patience and lots of iteration. Once you find the right Web designer that you think you can have a partnership with, the next step is to let him or her know the direction of your business strategy. While working with numerous Web design clients at AdFicient, I’ve really learned to respect clients who understand the need to communicate what their company is, where it’s going, and what image it should have. Even though sometimes it’s like pulling teeth to get any sort of information out of them, once it comes out, it makes the entire […]

As a small business owner who runs a marketing firm, I hear all the time about the relationships that didn’t work out. Small business owners who can’t find a marketing firm they “click” with, marketing firms that are frustrated by the clients who balk at every idea, etc. Communication is key to avoiding these issues. Remember, marketing is a partnership. Nobody plays tennis alone. You need to be able to do your part to make the relationship work. And a big part of doing your part is being extremely clear about what you want. To do that, you need to ask yourself some questions first. Ask Yourself Before You Hire a Marketing Firm. . . Are You Willing to Listen and Try New Things? Before you spend a penny on your marketing, it’s time to ask yourself if you’re ready, willing and able to listen to the person you hire. No one says you have to implement every idea. Working with a marketer doesn’t mean slavishly adhering to everything they have to say. But if you’re not willing to even consider something different from how you’ve always done it, you’re wasting your money paying for someone else’s new ideas. What’s Your Communication Style? Every business owner is different. Some people prefer to communicate with their marketing firm very rarely, communicating primarily through emails and scheduled meetings. Other people want more time from their marketing team, expecting instant availability and response to calls, emails and tweets. Understanding your communication style is very […]

Many B2B websites are stuck in the past, functioning an online brochure rather than a member of the business development team—engaging prospects throughout the sales cycle. Though the sales cycles differ, B2B sites can learn from B2C. While B2B buyers have a different purpose than B2C consumers, they both still want a great user experience when they visit a company’s website. The fact is, many B2B websites need to make some B2C-inspired changes to keep up with their savvy buyers and prospects. So here are some ways that B2B companies can learn from B2C websites about user experience. B2C Purchase = B2B Lead Generation The main purpose of a B2C website is to lead a prospect to purchase during that site visit; however, the goal for a B2B website is to generate leads. The problem lies in the fact that many B2B companies don’t know where to begin or how to capitalize on the power their website could have with an online marketing program. A B2B study done by Nielsen Norman Group found that many B2B sites have poor usability because the website is less directly accountable for sales. B2C sites know exactly how much money they lose when a customer doesn’t convert, but this is not the case for B2B. However, B2B companies need to realize that buyers do extensive research before contacting a company and starting a conversation with the sales team. If a website fails to show credibility for the company, then the prospective buyer will leave […]

In order to achieve progress or innovation in any field of work, you must not be afraid to take risks. With that said, you should also be conscious of which risks you should avoid taking – risks that have been taken before but amounted to little success. In the case of SEO, there are plenty of opportunities for taking chances and doing so certainly has the potential to benefit your company. Before you explore new possibilities for your SEO projects, however, take the time to learn which risks have consistently shown only to lead to disaster.            Outsourcing SEO projects is one such risk. When companies outsource their SEO copywriting, the articles and blog posts they receive typically include spelling and grammar errors and instances of plagiarism. It is advisable for your company to do SEO copywriting itself so that you can monitor the status of these projects with greater transparency while avoiding the dangers involved with leaving these projects in the hands of an outsourced company.            It’s generally a bad idea to have an employee take on a web coding task if he or she has little experience in development. Fixing coding mistakes can become very expensive so giving coding responsibilities to an inexperienced employee is a risk that is unlikely to end well. It’s best to leave any web development assignments to someone with a higher level of experience in this field, even if this means paying more to […]