No matter what market or industry you’re in, running a small business can be tough. Because competition and consumer demands are so high, you’re constantly looking for ways to increase market share and grow the business.

But what can you do on a strategic level that will have a big impact? Quite a bit, actually. One thing many business owners fail to realize is the importance of having a mission statement, and recognizing their value proposition.

LinkedIn is a powerful tool for working professionals and business owners looking to network. In fact, it’s the biggest online social media tool created exclusively to help grow your professional reach. There are several networking best practices you can use in order to maximize your exposure, including specific LinkedIn tips that we know work very well on the platform. Here, we’ll discuss five LinkedIn tips for networking so you can make the most of your experience.

Congratulations! You completed your LinkedIn profile. Now all you have to do is sit back, relax and let the job offers roll in, right? Wrong! There are scores of qualified job candidates out there. To be successful, you need to leverage your LinkedIn network to attract new job opportunities. Here are five LinkedIn tips for professionals to use to be sure you get noticed.

Whether it’s professional or personal issues with a colleague, knowing how to provide feedback to peers, without causing conflict, is a skill that some professionals may feel that they haven’t quite mastered. From below average presentations to poor workplace etiquette, each situation requires it’s own unique approach. But the cost of avoiding the issue can result in even worse long term results and ongoing issues that have a negative effect on the entire work environment.

Giving much needed feedback doesn’t have to be stressful and difficult, as long as you adhere to some of the following tips for providing feedback.

It's undeniable that the workplace has changed, reflecting changes in market ideologies and generational shifts. With it, the roles and requirements have changed widely for job titles that haven't. In today's post, we'll take a peek at history to reflect and find new ways of understanding the 21st Century manager.

Microsoft Excel is an essential program for office managers, marketers, and anyone who deals with finances. This program’s ability to quickly and efficiently organize data is a huge time saver. Today, almost 80% of intermediately-skilled positions post digital skills in the job requirements, knowing Microsoft Office tricks and shortcuts are a great way to boost your skills and value for employers.

Keeping your project running smoothly can take a lot of leadership, and it means a lot more than just ensuring you have the right team members on tap. It means knowing best practices and more importantly, having access to the right tools to help your team get the job done quickly, efficiently, and under budget. We recently created a project management guide that packages some of these together into a kit for you and your team to use.

In today’s post, we’ve included a few best practices that every good project manager should keep in mind. It’s just a taste of what our Project Management Charter Project Kit will go into more thoroughly:

It goes without saying that customer service is vital. More than 75% of consumers see customer service as representative of how much a brand values them. Another 70% say their experience is defined by how they feel they're being treated. What you may not realize is that delighting your customers takes more than just standard customer service — it's not enough to give them a smile and a can-do attitude.

In today's post, we'll discuss three of the biggest factors in how to delight your customers.

Working with difficult people is neither pleasant nor stress free. We also know just how unavoidable it can be. Accomplishing your project and career goals requires you to be good at handling difficult people in the workplace, so take a moment to reflect with our top tips for how to handle difficult people in the workplace.

Dealing with different personality types in the workplace can be tough. Having to shift gears from one conversation to the next and trying to get all your work done can be an onerous task.

What helps is when we define the different personality types that exist, and more importantly consider difficult workplace personalities. What are the signs of difficult personality types in the workplace and what can you do to handle them so that your work isn’t affected?