Start, Run, & Grow Your Business

How Emily Weiss Shook Up the Beauty Industry With Glossier

What does it take for a 33-year-old female blogger to raise $100 million in venture funding, build a $1.2 billion business, and make Time’s Next 100 list? According to Emily Weiss, the founder of Glossier who accomplished all the above, it takes an unbeatable brand. “I am crazy for good branding,” she said, “and I admire companies that get it right.” Get it right, she did. Emily, who started adult life as an intern at Teen Vogue and then as an independent beauty blogger, has flipped the established beauty industry upside down with her creative messages, packaging, and products. Here’s how she did it: Why the Beauty Industry Is So Difficult to Disrupt Women and men have been applying makeup as a beauty treatment for about 5,000 years now. From ancient people who applied beauty treatments made from henna, chalk, and soot to modern folks who rely on elegant …

The Future of the Telecommunication Industry

The telecom industry is growing fast. The advanced technologies have brought some dramatic changes to offer enhanced customer satisfaction. It is anticipated that 2020 will bring more and varied opportunities. The changing customer demands, evolving digital supply chain, and ever-smart devices will make the industry advanced and more responsive. Also, telecom companies will act smartly and more diligently to compete in this fast-paced and complex global economy. They will have to navigate a world where customers are demanding and frequently want new updates to make communication easier than ever. What Is the Future of the Telecom industry? The telecom industry will be more result-driven. It will develop advanced and innovative technologies to create an easy and safe solution for customers. Here are a few things that customers can expect from telecom in the future: Industry Restructuring To win the support of customers and regain their trust, …

How Call Center Software is Revolutionizing the Customer Experience

Call center software, also known as call center Customer Relationship Management (CRM), is increasingly making the lives of call center agents easier. In turn, effective management of customer queries translates into a more seamless operation and ultimately greater customer satisfaction. So you might be wondering: what exactly does call center software entail? Simply put, it’s a communication management system built to help you efficiently manage inbound and outbound communications from a variety of contact channels. A business’ phone, voicemail, email, live chat, instant messaging and texts all require regular customer support. Call center software works to tie it all together and reduce the strain on your customer support team. Streamlining of processes is the name of the game. Plus in this day and age when the customer is always right and time is of the essence, your business environment stands to gain so much from a call center software …

Business Referrals Encouraging Word of Mouth

Get More Business Referrals by Encouraging Word of Mouth

Word of mouth marketing is the most powerful advertising tool in a small business owner’s toolkit. A happy customer sharing your story with a friend, colleague, or family member is far more effective and much cheaper than any billboard, blog, or Twitter feed. Conversely, an unhappy buyer telling friends how bad their experience was can cut deeper into revenue than nearly anything else. Done right, word of mouth marketing can grow your business, build your brand, and secure your revenue stream. Researchers have been examining word of mouth marketing for at least 60 years to figure out what it is, why it works, and how to do it well. Here’s what we know: What Is Word of Mouth Marketing? Word of mouth marketing differs from unorganized expression in that it’s influenced and directed by the organization. In providing that influence and direction, a business can follow one or more of …

Should You Sell Your Successful Startup?

We all know it’s not exactly easy to open a business in a competitive field. In fact, if it is too easy, you should question whether it’s worthwhile, in the first place, because you may end up in an overcrowded space. The things that stop competitors from entering an industry are the things that let the established businesses keep their piece of the pie. While most people keep those things in mind…When your company starts doing very well, you may come to the point where you have to make a decision. Do you sell it and cash out, or keep your company and continue building it? There are benefits to either option, but it can be difficult to figure out what is actually the better choice for you as an entrepreneur. This post will arm you with some valuable advice that you can turn to when you’re faced with …

Ways That You and Your Business Can Communicate Over the Internet

For both businesses and the general public, there are a variety of modern communication methods that utilize the internet. You probably use a few of these methods yourself for your job and your home life. With that in mind, here are a few ways that technology is rapidly transforming the way you communicate information. Email Replacements Email systems have been around for decades and have a variety of issues that have persisted for just as long. This is a problem for both your business and personal use as dealing with these issues can easily chew up your time and put you at risk. Unsolicited advertising in the form of spam email messages is common, and may well form a significant amount of internet message traffic at this point. Malware in the form of computer viruses and other malicious executables embedded into email attachments are also a constant threat …

Why Talkroute Is Using WebRTC to Go Beyond Old-School VoIP

As a business owner using a Virtual Phone System, you are reaping the benefits of the professional quality service of a business system combined with the ease and cost-effectiveness of a single phone in your hand. But you may face some challenges using this system well. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) systems were never intended for home or small business service, after all, and consequently, users may face hiccups when using these systems that way. Fortunately, recent changes to VoIP are addressing many of those problems. For the first time, Talkroute is offering a VoIP-based service with WebRTC because we believe the technology is finally stable enough to offer a reliable internet-based call connection. Here’s why we’re using WebRTC to go beyond old-school VoIP and why that can make your business communications faster, stronger, and simpler. The Challenges of VoIP VoIP does many things well. Without it, …

Founders of Instagram Started Revolution

How the Founders of Instagram Started a Revolution

In 2012, Facebook purchased a photo-sharing app called Instagram for the staggering sum of $1 billion. By 2019, Instagram was bringing in 25% of Facebook’s annual revenue, which means that one app was earning nearly $20 billion a year. For context, Google’s popular video-sharing platform YouTube was pulling in just $15.1 billion. How did Instagram get started? And how did it turn into the massive, revolutionary company it is today? Here’s the story behind the photos: Who Founded Instagram? Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger founded Instagram in a San Francisco co-working space on October 6, 2010. Systrom had been working on the project a year earlier under a larger concept called Burbn. When that failed to catch fire, he and his partner peered deeply into the data. Kevin Systrom Systrom was born on December 30, 1983 to Diane and Douglas Systrom in Hollister, Massachusetts, which is part of …

Easy Tips That Work to Reduce the Waiting Time in Call Centers

Nothing can be more annoying than being placed on hold by call center staff. Customers look for fast and satisfactory answers when they dial a call center. Bad hold practices are one of the primary reasons why many customers sever their ties with a company. Customers get disappointed when they have to place their phone on speaker and listen to the hold music, waiting interminably for the call center staffer to respond to their calls. Even though it looks inevitable in some cases, we can definitely do something to reduce waiting time in call centers and make the hold time experience better for the customers. We have created a list of some helpful tips for reducing call center wait time! Standard hold time If placing a customer on hold for too long can leave a customer highly discontented, how long is the ideal hold time? Various standards …

How to Become a Trusted Expert with Content Marketing

Traditional forms of advertising have grown less effective over time. Television, radio, and newspaper ads don’t carry the distribution levels or emotional impact they once did. Plus, consumers have grown savvier, less responsive to hard sells, and more likely to use the internet to do research before making a buying decision. Today’s buyers want to feel a sense of autonomy in their choices. These cultural changes have led to a realignment in marketing. Businesses are moving away from advertising and toward content marketing. Advertising vs. Content Marketing What is advertising? Advertising is a sponsored media production that is intended to convince the public to buy a service or product. Advertisers want to get their message in front of as many viewers as possible to maximize their reach. An advertising campaign usually includes billboards, commercials, banners, and brochures, all intended to tell people about a product or service. The decision point …

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