Twisting your features into a mask of pain, you dig your heels into the soft grass. A rope tears into your palms. A clear, tiny voice speaks to you amid the many confused thoughts swirling in your head: “So-o-o-o … what am I learning from this experience?”
 
Well, if you’re like many who have done this exercise at a corporate retreat, you should be learning about teamwork. As others join you, the collective rope-pulling effort seems to demonstrate the point. Little by little, the boulder starts moving until it nudges over the 30-foot mark. Cheers erupt. But you notice something. With each additional person who contributes to the effort, the boulder moves faster, but not as fast as you would have imagined. By the time the tenth person steps up, you feel the group is barely pulling harder than when it was only six, even though everyone seems to be working hard.

There's a reason event planning has become its own market segment, and it isn't because the economy couldn't provide its 200,000 working professionals with enough to do. They sit at the center of a five billion dollar industry with nothing but growth ahead. So if you find yourself wondering if you're doing everything right when you plan your next event, take comfort in the fact you are far from alone.

When thinking about a marketing strategy, most entrepreneurs and business owners only scratch the surface. They fail to focus their efforts and resources into strategies that can impose big changes for their brand and not just short-term upside volatility to impress investors. Here's 5 ways how a good marketing campaign can affect your business for the better.

Kevin Kerridge, EVP, Direct and Partnership Division at Hiscox discusses how small business owners should prepare to make this year’s tax season as stress-free as possible.

Idea Café: Kevin, what are the biggest challenges small business owners face when it comes to tax preparation?

Kerridge: The biggest challenge is somewhat simple: time. Small business owners are extremely busy and are never really “off the clock.” Oftentimes, there just isn’t enough time in the day for all that running a business entails, including completing your taxes. The thought of completing your own personal taxes can be daunting and adding in your business’s taxes makes the whole process that much more stressful. Luckily, there are ways to be prepared.

Wealth has historically been viewed as financial success in business that translates to success in life. Money, real estate, investments, and “stuff” like cars and expensive vacations - if you’ve got these things, you’re doing well for yourself…right?

Perhaps it’s time we recognized that the wealth game is changing. While money does matter, it’s no longer the foremost defining attribute of personal or professional achievement. Instead, a new focus on happiness and purpose is driving the common consciousness. This shift is due in part to the influence of millennials, whose priorities about work and life are reshaping everything from world economies to the business landscape as a whole.

Many businesses with great ideas failed miserably, despite the good and optimistic start. What most people don’t know about these businesses is that they (in most cases) made some unforgivable, rookie mistakes. One of the greatest is not being able to keep their customers interested, losing their trust and eventually – losing them in the end. To prevent making this fatal mistake, read these tips about the best ways to keep your customers. All these different strategies are equally important and their goal is the same – to keep customers loyal and happy with your products and service!

Did you know that nearly 14% of working-age Americans are starting or running new businesses? If you are one of these 27 million entrepreneurs, you likely understand the challenges and demands involved with establishing a stand-out company. Between increasing revenue and finding the ideal product-market fit, it’s not uncommon to overlook the essentials that make your business a true success, like maintaining a strong relationship with clients.

Employees are often called “opinionated” or “not good enough” when their skills don’t match a particular position. But, in most instances, managers are keen to make the ship stay on course and expect the staffers to perform well.

Don’t be that manager if you want your company to move forward.

Is your business one that spends a ton of time on content marketing and guest posting in particular? If the answer is no, why is that?

As more brands have come to see over the years, content marketing and guest posting have a positive and worthwhile relationship when done correctly.

Your digital marketing campaign can be a cost effective pathway to your core audience. However, you must be sure that your efforts are giving you the return on your investment that you require. Here are a few of the top ways that you can test for success with your digital marketing.