Reading the Chicago Tribune business section I learned that Barbie, the world’s most popular doll, had lost her “Wow” and the president of her division at Mattel, Neil Friedman, had sent his team on retreat to go and find it. They returned with a new slogan, “Dream Big In Pink Heels” and as soon as [...]

Entrepreneurs are puzzle-solvers. We take what’s visible and invisible and ponder, plan and experiment. Sometimes the plans work out fabulously..other times, not so much. Here’s a classic example of one of them. Riding up the elevator to the management office of the John Hancock Center, they had agreed to meet with me over an idea [...]

Fresh out of Suzanne Ross’s Communication Class – juiced with the skills to precisely define my company – I went home to write. At a certain point, I thought – “This is tough! Let’s get to know Suzanne better and see what she says about HERSELF.” So I hopped over to her website. Check point [...]

Liz Strauss has had the courage to voice who she is in a whisper heard round the world. The foremost businesswoman on Twitter, she has refused to accept business as usual. Like thought leaders before us, in the privacy of her own observations she has understood the contributions of individuals, small companies and corporations and [...]

If realistically three new clients would give your small company a boost, the way to reach, connect and convert them may be as easy as making changes to your existing website. Here are a few tips to make your website work for you. 1.  Ask yourself – what problems are you solving for your clients? [...]

I’ve recently had the revelation that niche marketing is actually personal marketing; and not only not niche, but not marketing. What we are really doing as entrepreneurs is reaching out to one set of eyes, one heart, and one mind of a person; singular.  What sparked this insight was not the gazillions of books I’ve [...]

Image via Wikipedia For those of us who love to write, the joy is in discovering the inspiration of the day! You never know what’s in your head (of value) until you download it onto paper. Free flowing writing channels pure original insights. These can lead to business breakthroughs or crystallize ideas that were gasses [...]

When we opened our doors, the goals of Big Ooga have always been to help Chicago area entrepreneurs become smarter, more successful and better connected. What we evolved into at “Hello” was a magnificent community of intelligent entrepreneurs and small business owners who genuinely cared about achieving success while helping others do the same. We [...]

If you are out there wondering what the BLEEP to do next in building your company, you are not alone. Clarity is a thing that gets tangled intermittently and sometimes feels like you’ve been hit by a meteor. This is a natural part of the entrepreneurial journey. Things work, things change, what worked isn’t working – then YOU have [...]

Yes, it’s going to take a village to raise happy, healthy companies, but being out there on your own isn’t the only way.  Ask yourself,  “If I don’t have to do everything myself, why would I want to?”  By putting a community behind you, you’ll have more resources, less stress, and more time to focus on [...]