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In the spirit of our new strategic alliance the  SBAC (Small Business Advocacy  Council), has invited us to their next Cocktail Hour at Aqua. There is no charge for our members.  Our job is to enjoy, connect and find out why we are so thrilled to be part of this new partnership. The Small Business [...]

Join us for a one-day intensive Google Analytics Training and SEO Training in Chicago Presented by Avery Cohen, principal of Metrist Partners, whose clients include: Crain’s Chicago Business and Peapod.

In conversations with search engine optimization experts in Chicago, the consensus is, it’s not just about the traffic but what happens once you get it.  Do your visitors stay or go? Do they return and connect?  Are they compelled to pick up the phone, buy something, sign-up for something or even walk through your door?  [...]

There is nothing more exhilarating than knowing where you’re going in business, seeing the road ahead and knowing what steps to take.  Just having that in your pocket feels like a currency, like being rich with hope AND strategy. Conversely, speaking for myself and possibly the other 22 million of us US entrepreneurs who sometimes [...]

Last year I was operating under the old ratio of:  busy tasks vs. priority tasks.  The equation looked like this:  600 + 4 = a day in the life of an entrepreneur. The 600 represents everything other than what you should actually be doing -  reading possibly important stuff, looking for stuff, responding to stuff, [...]

We opened the meeting with some real-time analytics, asking new faces to introduce themselves and tell us how they found us.  90%  said word of mouth.  It was either a friend, a direct experience, direct invite or event  listing – in that order. In other words, it was personal. Just like the writing of this [...]

Last year was tumultuous.   It was about adapting and embracing change, both chosen and thrust.  It was about living under new conditions and circumstances – within the world and within my personal world and I can say with certainty, I survived it with a positive attitude, damn it. Still.. 2010, don’t let the door hit [...]

There is a distinction between making a living and building a company.  Both are entrepreneurial, but the approach is very different. Breaking out of your box means understanding business models and putting them into effect. Making a living means finding a stream of customers or clients who want what you sell or do and doing more of [...]

Join In! For members and non-members alike! We are delighted to report that the entrepreneurial coffees last month were not only a hit, but a smash! Of those who attended 95% would like to return. What we discovered is that while our companies are different and our professional experience varies, our  journeys are indeed very [...]

There are 27,000 current members in Linked n Chicago, thousands of members & friends of Big Ooga, Local First, BNC, Evanston Chamber, West Suburban Chamber, the Naperville LinkedIn Business Group and the Evanston / North Shore Business Group. Among them, the owners, founders, leaders, volunteers and members share a common vision, to create a working, [...]