11 Success Tips From Small Business Leaders

11 Success Tips From Small Business Leaders

Whether it’s about how to use social media, getting through the early dark days of a startup, or about marketing your business, getting advice can help you succeed.

The video below contains success tips from 11 business leaders. It was shot at ICON14 in Phoenix, Arizona. ICON is the Infusionsoft customer conference that attracts 3,000 attendees, most of them small businesses or serving small businesses like yours and mine.

I was there on behalf of Small Business Trends capturing some “man on the aisle” interviews from presenters and attendees.

And out of all the success tips, what’s my favorite? Well, it’s from Clate Mask, CEO of Infusionsoft, who sat down and talked frankly about the brutally tough early days of the company he co-founded over a decade ago. Infusionsoft, which got $54 million in venture capital from Goldman Sachs, bootstrapped its way for years before earning that large injection of growth capital.

Mask says that in the early years, every single day was a struggle for survival. And while cash flow and business experience matter, the real secret, he says, “starts in your head with your success mindset, attitude and positive thinking.” This is what gets you through the struggle.

Guest Post: With Used Watch, TAG Heuer Turns Back Time at Baselworld Fair

Two years ago, TAG Heuer grabbed headlines at the giant Baselworld watch fair with a glimpse of the future: a Google-enabled smartwatch, the Connected, that was considered the first big Swiss counterstrike to the Apple Watch.

This week, the pedigreed Swiss watchmaker again turned heads at Baselworld, but this time, it did so by looking back a half-century.

At a splashy news media conference featuring the actor Patrick Dempsey, TAG Heuer unveiled one of the most talked-about used Tag Heuer watches of the fair: a reborn version of its classic Autavia racing chronograph from 1962, which has become a hot collectible on the vintage market.

Instead of scouring auctions and spending five figures for an actual piece from the Kennedy era, TAG fans can secure a faithful rendition of a watch made famous by auto racing legends like Mario Andretti and Jochen Rindt for $5,150 (on a leather strap) or $5,300 (on a stainless steel bracelet).

Fans of the brand will most likely be pleased to see the meticulous period detailing on this new 55th anniversary model — most notably the so-called reverse panda dial featuring three white subdials on a black dial, a coveted retro design feature often found on used Rolex Daytonas that fetch $40,000 or more.

Then again, fans already are sold on this retro Autavia, it seems. This model was born of a marketing stunt last year called the Autavia Cup, in which the company, led by the chief executive Jean-Claude Biver, one of the industry’s most colorful showmen, polled more than 50,000 TAG fans to see which of 16 used Autavia models they would like to see brought back.

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The Autavia “Rindt,” which harks back to the first sports chronograph created by Jack Heuer, the fourth generation head of the company, won going away.

Sure, vintage snobs will have to put up with a few conspicuous nods toward modernization. The new Autavia is plainly brawnier than the original, with a 42 millimeter case, rather than 39 millimeters. Some purists might be aghast to see the addition of a date window, although this one is artfully hidden down around 6 o’clock.

But in the trade-off, buyers of the modern version also get the new, self-winding Heuer-02 caliber proprietary chronograph movement, an 80-hour power reserve and water resistance to 100 meters.

So, no, the new Autavia is not the latest smartwatch. It is merely a very smart watch.

Strategies: 18 tips and tricks for daily business life

(Photo: Mike Watson Images)

 Strategies: 18 tips and tricks for daily business life

Running a business means taking care of lots of little things. Sure, success depends on the big things, such as your strategy, marketing and technology. But sometimes, we could use a bit of guidance on how to better handle the little things to make our business lives easier.

Here are a few tips and tricks learned in my years of business:

• Develop and practice your "elevator pitch," a brief sentence to describe what your business is all about. Use it when you introduce yourself to others, at business mixers, meeting with prospects. You're more likely to land a customer and get referrals if you can clearly describe what you do.

• If you're giving a customer or client a discount, let them know it! When you send the bill, be certain to indicate the regular price and then the voluntary discount you're giving them. That reminds them they're getting a special deal.