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Business Advice

Get advice for small to medium sized businesses on www.NorthwestGoldCoast.com.

Zev Siegl’s Cleveland Visit an Eye Opener

An early October visit to speak to Cleveland’s entrepreneurship community was a revelation for Zev Siegl, Co-founder of Starbucks and serial entrepreneur. While presenting at Bizdom/Cleveland and at Blackstone Launchpad, Zev discovered a high degree of civic-mindedness in the young-entrepreneur community. “People seem to be planning and building companies not just because they want to make money…but […]

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Where Are They Now?

We’re taking a look back at some of the fabulous employees that have worked to make Cascade e-Commerce Solutions, Inc. the great place that it is, even if they have moved on to different positions and companies. Synthia Melton Synthia was an account marketing intern with us in the summer of 2004 after completing her […]

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No Time for the Business Plan

“It happens to business owners all the time,” says independent consultant Zev Siegl. “The owner of a growing $500,000 business sees an opportunity to quickly become a $1 million company, but doesn’t have the resources to get there.” What usually happens next, according to Siegl, is the owner figures out how much money she’s going […]

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Marketing with Facebook

We support our clients in the use of Facebook as it is a very popular platform that can help build a larger customer base, increase sales and improve customer engagement and service. However, we do not recommend that they use it as their only Internet presence. Some of our clients, such as Treasured Times Rubber […]

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How to Be Happier Online in 2013

There are a million resolutions we can make every year, and we keep a few of them.  What does every resolution boil down to but having a happier, more effective year?  And since I spend most of my time online with email, article writing, research, blog reading, and social networking I want to aim most […]

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Social Media Series: Part Three – LinkedIn

We are moving forward with our series on Northwest Gold Coast exploring the potential that social media marketing may hold for your business.  This month, we are looking at the usefulness of LinkedIn for your company.  Next month we will be finishing up with Twitter.  If there’s another social media outlet you’re interested in learning […]

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Is It Time To Go Mobile?

With cell phones in the hands of kindergartners these days and the massive move to Smart Phones, business owners are starting to question if their websites need to go mobile too. Even if owners and employees aren’t using the latest technologies it doesn’t stop their clients from using mobile technologies to research businesses, look up […]

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20 Ways to Keep Search Engines from Listing Your Website

In my years of optimizing websites for the search engines, I’ve often been called in to remedy business websites that have had disastrous results in the search engines. In each case a prior SEO service provider had employed abusive and/or neglectful strategies. 20 of these abuses and neglectful practices are listed below. The first thing […]

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Roles Found in Successful Businesses

While every business is unique, successful businesses are built with the support of the following roles. The optimist – On a daily basis this individual envisions and speaks of success and exhorts others to do the same. This individual’s optimism is so strong that it is contagious. Staff, prospects and vendors all have an opportunity […]

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Are You a Facebook Junkie?

The call goes something like this. “Elizabeth, this is Joe. I have a question for you. Are you a Facebook Junkie?” Silent pause. Private thought… junkie… addict…habit… Hmmm, I check Facebook several times a day. It has become a habit like washing my face and brushing my teeth. The answer… “Yes, I am!” “I’ve got […]

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Google AdWords to the Rescue

In this day and age the internet is quite the crowded place. With so many different outlets all vying for attention, marketing space, and customers; it’s a wonder how anyone is capable of successfully competing on the web. However, there is a product that makes it possible for anyone to compete on the web regardless […]

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A Whale of a Review – If You Value Reputation, You Will Want to Understand Online Reviews

What if the opinion of every customer you have ever had was instantly available for your review? Or, what if everyone, including new potential customers had access to these opinions? Essentially, they do. The increasing importance and proliferation of review sites has made reviews powerful tools for consumers. Reviews could be powerful for a business […]

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How to Sell Without Selling

Selling a service is different from selling a product. Selling a service involves making more of a human connection and a commitment because what you are selling is more than an object. Selling a service, even when selling installation of a product, includes understanding the customer and selling the personality, knowledge, and skills of those […]

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Sharing Equals Saving Money

Remember learning the painful lesson of sharing as a child? One local business is helping other businesses learn to share and saving them money in the process. You don’t often see businesses apply principle like sharing. However, thanks to Stratus Rack some businesses are sharing with each other and saving handfuls of money in the […]

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Remediating Search Engine Rankings

Businesses that developed simple text-dense websites in the early years of the Internet (before 2001) benefited from a phenomenon known as “grandfathering”. If these businesses listed their websites in the major search engines before the engines began charging for inclusion or pay per click, their sites stayed in the search engines for free because the search […]

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Business Owner’s Thanksgiving

By Elizabeth Paulsen in the style of Chuck Gallozzi We are thankful for: Long hours because even though they’re long, we set them and we are not likely to lay ourselves off. Work stress because it gives us an excuse to reach for the dark chocolate or go work out. Payroll taxes, vacation pay and […]

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20 Ways to Fail at SEO

20 Ways to Keep Search Engines from Listing Your Website in Their Search Results In ten years of optimizing websites for the search engines, I’ve often been called in to remedy business websites that have had disastrous results in the search engines. In each case a prior webmaster or search engine optimization (SEO) service provider […]

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