Two years after the Small Business Act entered into force the European Association of Craft, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises has identified a number of measures that need to be taken by the EU and national policy makers if the SBA is going to have any teeth.

Many solopreneurs and small business owners focus on creating a “kick-ass” elevator pitch so that they’re armed when they are at networking events or asked the age old question, “what do you do?”

One of the reasons they struggle with creating the clarity needed to create that powerful elevator pitch is because they aren’t actually clear about their unique marketing message.

Performance During my sales training workshops people often ask me for one or two strategies that will help them improve their overall results. Here is what I tell them:

Do a post-sales call analysis.

Every top performing sales athlete watches video-tapes of their performance after a game or competition. While it may not be feasible to record yourself during a sales meeting you can use this concept to improve your approach. Here's what you do.

Ask yourself three simple questions after every sales call, meeting or appointment.

Did you ever wonder about the effectiveness of your advertising? How many times have you had to make a decision to place an ad only to ask, does advertising really work? Unfortunately, many small business owners miss the mark on advertising and then believe that advertising doesn't work. This is a sad misconception because when done effectively, advertising can be one of your strongest marketing tactics to drive customers to your doors. Chances are, if your advertising isn't working, it may because of one of these five reasons:

1. Too much information