Once upon a time (or “back in the day” if you prefer), outsourcing had a bad reputation. People associated it with negative identifiers like cheap, rushed, disconnected. If those are the kinds of qualities you still think about when you think about outsourcing today, it’s time for an update. Outsourcing should be part of every…
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Ten years ago, on September 15, 2011, Forward Level Marketing was born. To put it lightly, it’s been a crazy decade with some amazing highs. We’re proud to say that we made it to where we are today driven by the same purpose we started with: to move our people and our community forward. For…
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“I want to live in a mall where the temperature is always the same and people are nice.” – Kevin Meaney, Comedian I am obsessed with dead malls. What are dead malls, you ask? They’re the shopping centres that are neglected, abandoned and or scheduled for the wrecking ball. They are full of empty stores,…
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How to win customers and influence the ones you have “Customer satisfaction is worthless. Customer loyalty is priceless.” – Jeffrey Gitomer Having more customers is, generally speaking, better than having less. More customers mean more sales, and more sales mean more profit. Customer acquisition plays a big part in making that happen, but there’s another…
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I spent more than two decades in the entertainment industry, where I reported on new movies. The competition for audience dollars was fierce. Studios that spent $100M+ to make a film often invested an equal amount in marketing, advertising and promotional events. Sometimes the studios’ excessive spending was the stuff of legend. One of the…
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If you weren’t already aware of the benefits of diversifying your business revenue, the last year has made it abundantly clear. Depending on limited sources of revenue including individual products or services, major clients, or markets, leaves you vulnerable. If something impacts your main revenue driver and you don’t have revenue streams that can offset…
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“It isn’t about the words you say. It’s about the energetic message you send.” – Pete Carroll, Head Coach, Seattle Seahawks Pete Carroll’s energy and passion for the game are infectious. You never see him get in a player’s face after a bad play. Even when his team is losing, Pete rallies his players and…
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When Connor Curran decided to start his own clothing company, he had no idea where to begin. So he took out his laptop and Googled ‘How to start a T-shirt company,’ and watched a YouTube video. Soon after, Local Laundry was born. Since 2015, Connor has used his company to do more than just sell…
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Adam Thompson jumped in with both feet when he started Friday Sock Co. in 2015. He took his love of colourful footwear and turned it into a $1 million a year business with more than 400 retail partners in Canada and the United States. Adam’s mismatched sock designs run the gamut from bacon and eggs,…
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Photo by Bobby Owens Photography. We’ve hit the seven-month mark of navigating our businesses through a turbulent economic environment. If there were a metaphor for this ride we’ve been on, I’d imagine it to be a tough, snorting bull at the Stampede Rodeo, one that only the fiercest of bull riders would dare to ride…
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Webinar Overview The world is in a state of rapid change and innovation is more important than ever. Business owners globally are finding new ways to bring in revenue and go from survival back to a state of growth. Many of these business owners are taking their products and services online, launching digital products, and…
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How blasts from the past shape our future An interesting thing happened during the last weekend of May. A low-budget horror thriller called The Wretched was the number one movie for the fifth week in a row. The movie’s total gross of $841,000 was impressive during a pandemic, but a mere fraction of what a…
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There seems to be a grey area between marketing and sales. To the unfamiliar, it can be hard to distinguish where one begins and the other ends. But sales is not marketing, and marketing is not sales. They work together to achieve the desired outcome, whether that be new customers or new clients. The relationship…
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A little over two months ago, my business partner Amish and I ended up on what seems like the first Zoom call of the subsequent 4875 that have happened since. What seemed abnormal then is the new normal now. That which felt hard now seems easy. It’s funny how time does that to you. Through…
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Business owners are drinking from a fire hose right now. Every day brings a new government initiative designed to keep the doors open, and there is an endless flow of advice on how to operate your business during challenging times. While the focus has been on defence and risk mitigation, now is the time to…
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