Lessons in Business Leadership From the NBA Finals

Posted on June 17, 2013

So with an interesting NBA Finals going on right now, we found this blog by Trevor Turnbull, that shows how entrepreneurs can take something away from the leaders that you are watching on the court!  Every business owner is different, just as every leader is for their team.  So below you will find some things that the pros do that you can use to help you run your business and be a better leader!

Thanks!
-Carlos

Great leaders usually don’t just fall into their success. Entrepreneurs and business owners must acquire and develop over time the skills necessary to guide his or her team in the right direction.

Yet, not all leaders are cut from the same cloth. Entrepreneurs, like basketball stars, can exhibit a wide variety of leadership qualities and tendencies. The two star players in the 2013 NBA Finals — Miami Heat forward LeBron James and San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan — have exercised opposite approaches to leading their respective teams. Regardless of their leadership “type,” both players have reached high levels of success during their careers.

Below are three ways that you can lead your business and obtain similar high-end results.

1. Be charismatic.

Ten-year NBA veteran LeBron James has displayed an outspoken persona at times throughout his career. During halftime of Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Indiana Pacers, James gathered his teammates and delivered an animated speech. His message was to remind his teammates that they need to play with a sense of urgency and not simply rely on their talent. The Heat then rallied from a four-point halftime deficit to an 11-point victory.

As a charismatic leader, you can infuse a level of energy and enthusiasm into your business to motivate your team. However, a charismatic leader should not lose sight of his teammates contributions. Engaging with your team and believing in your own people can be essential to driving the company forward.

2. Be calm, yet assertive.

Outbursts and rah-rah speeches are not in Tim Duncan’s tool bag of motivational techniques. Rather, the 37-year-old meets his team’s expectations on a day-to-day basis without the verbal component. Through his lead-by-example demeanor, Duncan inspires his teammates to live up to their fullest potential.

Entrepreneurs can quietly instill confidence in their employees without wearing their emotion on their sleeve. By exuding a calm demeanor during times of success and a level headed approach during times of distress and hardship, business leaders can confidently ensure their employees that the business can handle the ups and downs that are bound to happen.

3. Encourage others to be leaders, too.

Drafted first overall in the 1997 NBA draft, Duncan became the San Antonio Spurs’ de facto leader following David Robinson’s departure in 2003. Through the additions of point guard Tony Parker and shooting guard Manu Ginoboli, the Spurs have been as consistent as any NBA team over the past decade, winning four titles since 1999. The San Antonio Spurs have empowered the supporting cast surrounding Duncan to lead together as a group.

With a democratic approach, multiple leaders can play an integral role in the decision-making process and success of a business. Encourage teamwork and value group contributions in the decision making process. This approach can increase employee satisfaction by empowering many leaders with the ability to affect the financial success of a business.

Vancouver, Canada-based Trevor Turnbull is COO of sports news site Sports Networker and the Sports Executives Association, where he manages content production, social marketing and community development.

Posted in Business Management, Entrepreneur, Growth Strategies, Ideas, Inspiration, Leadership, Management, Success Tips | Leave a comment

The Best and Worst Times to Post to Social Media (Infographic)

Posted on June 14, 2013

So we have a fun blog for you on this glorious Friday!!!  I know a lot of you all probably use social media to get out the great things about your business, so for this blog by Kristin Piombino, we have the BEST and WORST times for posting to each Social Media site!  I  hope that this will help you next time you decide to post something!

Thanks!
-Carlos

It’s the million-dollar question for social media managers everywhere: What is the best time to post to social media?

While the optimal time to update your Facebook page or Pinterest boards may vary depending on your audience, Social Caffeine created an infographic that lists, in general, the best and worst times to post to the major social networks.

Here’s a look at three of them:

Facebook: Traffic is highest between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. ET.

Best time: Between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. ET

Worst time: 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. ET

Pinterest: Saturday morning is the best time to post.

Best time: 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. ET or 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. ET

Worst time: 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. ET

LinkedIn: Post before or after business hours.

Best time: 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. ET or 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET

Worst time: 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. ET

Check out the full graphic for more:

Posted in Internet Marketing, Social Media, Success Tips | Leave a comment

How to Build a Culture Like Google: 7 Practical Ideas From ‘The Internship’

Posted on June 12, 2013

Happy Hump Day!  So we have a fun and informational blog for you today from, Ashley Lee.  Since we spend most of our lives at work, we should enjoy being there!  So this blog is going to give you some ideas on how that can be done, and is done at a place we all know so well, and is very successful!  Now I know that this does not fit all work places, but maybe something here will work for you!  Check it out and see what you think!  I have not seen the movie yet, but from the previews I have seen of  ”The Internship”, it looks to be hilarious!

Thanks!
-Carlos

In The Internship, the comedy feature film that portrays two middle-aged, unemployed salesmen competing for jobs at Google, actor Vince Vaughn’s character tells his former boss something that is sure to resonate with entrepreneurs. “We’ve had lots of jobs,” he says. “We’re trying to build a future.”

The summer flick, which recently arrived in theaters, was filmed on site at Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. As the first production ever allowed to shoot there, The Internship offers a rare peek into the corporate campus and its culture.

“It was fun filming at Google. It was like the chocolate factory; it was crazy!” said Vaughn of the tech company’s facilities at a special screening in New York City. “Google had a sense of humor. It’s better than us calling it ‘Snoogle,’ so it’s good that they let us use the real place.”

That real place, real name and those real company values are well-represented in the movie. Here are seven lessons from the lighthearted romp about how to build a company culture like Google’s — without a billion-dollar budget:

1. Don’t skimp on the office decor. Vaughn and co-star Owen Wilson spend their summer surrounded by ping pong tables, gourmet food courts, colorful bikes, an outdoor volleyball court and a giant slide. “It was like being at an all-inclusive resort because the food was free,” joked Vaughn. “They had nap pods that looked like Qantas Airlines!” To simulate this environment in your business without spending a fortune, opt for an open workspace with brightly painted walls, meeting rooms that inspire creativity with whiteboards and couches, and a distinct space for relaxation — nap pods optional.

2. Articulate your company’s unique identity. The film contends that the secret to working at Google is possessing an innate sense of “Googleyness.” A Google spokeswoman who worked on the film explains: “We believe in having a collaborative, vibrant culture where people work really hard, but they still like to have fun as well. We are a serious company, but we don’t take ourselves too seriously, which is one reason that we decided to collaborate on this project in the first place.” Bring your team together by identifying what your company stands for and communicating it to employees. And consider showing off your company’s personality in job postings to attract the right candidates.

3. Make your new-hire orientation a celebration. On the first day of Vaughn and Wilson’s internship, all the summer recruits mingle at a meet-and-greet and in a series of introductory seminars, complete with goofy, spinning hats with the brand’s logo. Putting together a fun welcome event, such as picnic or ice cream social, can help ensure that every new hire authentically feels part of the team.

4. Engage employees with learning initiatives. In the film, Wilson’s character accidentally attends a lecture on HTML5, which mirrors Google’s Tech Talks that feature anyone from an innovator in the health sciences to a chef releasing a new book. “Google is a lot like a university campus,” says the company spokeswoman. A business is only as strong as its team, so it’s important to continue investing in your employees long after you’ve hired them. Put together an informal speaker series where upper-level team members share their success stories. Invite experts in a related field to the office for an industry update, or attend local seminars as a group.

5. Create team challenges to motivate employees. Wilson and Vaughn find themselves fumbling through several tech-based challenges throughout their summer internship. Spurring innovation through healthy competition among groups of co-workers can be effective off-screen, too. Consider creating a monthly challenge in the office, or build team bonds with recreational activities, such as a company softball league. Vaughn said of real-life Googlers, “They played that game Quidditch — like for real, an intramural game.”

6. Provide sales training and exposure to every worker. After the film’s tech-savvy interns compete to create a new app, the final two challenges focus on customer service and sales. By exposing every member of the team, no matter what their position in the company, to these two critical areas of the business, everyone remembers that the customer always comes first. Even the best product on the shelves won’t sell itself.

7. Use your internship program to develop talent. You won’t see Vaughn or Wilson fetching coffee, making copies or running menial errands in The Internship. If those are your current intern assignments, hire an administrative assistant and refocus on shaping these potential new hires who could push your company forward. Making this change also gives the interns what they really want. “Try and stay enthusiastic,” Vaughn advised the screening’s audience of summer interns. “Even if you get a boss that’s kind of a jerk or doesn’t recognize that you’re doing good, still try to get what you came for, which is the experience.”

Ashley Lee is an entertainment, business and culture reporter in New York City. She covers style and red carpet events for The Hollywood Reporter and exploits her personal life for several women’s blogs.

Posted in Business Insights, Creativity, Human Resources, Ideas, Management | Leave a comment

Branding Made Personal: 3 Steps to Building a Stellar Personal Brand

Posted on June 10, 2013

I know we have had a handful of blogs about branding, but this is what we do and this blog here by, Karen Leland, is great and has a lot more information on what it takes to have a great brand!  So please check it out, I think you all will get a lot out of this blog!

Thanks!
-Carlos

Every business owner knows their company needs a unique combination of message, name, reputation and look that positions them as a brand. But it’s also critical for entrepreneurs to have a personal brand, which is built from the talents, commitment and energy you bring to the table.

A robust personal brand is not simply a great elevator speech, snappy clothing and a social media presence. It’s a way to give your business a competitive advantage.

Here are three key components to a strong personal brand and how to develop them:

1. A powerful physical presence. This includes anything a potential customer can actually lay eyes on from how you dress to your marketing collateral — business cards, brochures and your website.

For example, I had a dentist who specialized in a particular cosmetic procedure call me for a marketing consultation. He was perplexed as to why another dentist out of the area was getting a larger share of his local market.

“I’m just as qualified and experienced, and 90 minutes closer,” he complained to me. “I don’t get it.” After one look at his website, I understood. His online presence was, in a word, shabby. His website was dated and hard to navigate. When I pointed this out to him, his reply was telling: “No one really cares about that. It’s not worth spending the money to make it fancy.”

Of all the branding and marketing mistakes I see entrepreneurs make, not having an up-to-date, modern, well-branded, easy-to-navigate website is one of the biggest.

Does the physical aspect of your personal brand — your website in particular — match the quality of who you are and the work you do?

2. A strong intellectual appeal. Beyond looking sharp, clear messaging is a key starting point to building your personal brand. Most entrepreneurs settle for a simple elevator speech when it comes to messaging. While this is an important element of your brand, it’s not the whole story. Think through the following:

  • What are the services or proprietary processes you offer that set you apart from your competitors?
  • What is your unique branding proposition, not in terms of what you do, but how you do what you do?
  • What unique opinions, points of view and even language do you use that sets you apart?

Often, it only takes a small tweak to get the intellectual expression of a brand on track. For example, I have one client who billed herself as a media coach. Clients hired her to media train them but resisted buying additional media strategy services from her. By simply reworking the language she used to describe her services to reflect both media coaching and strategy consulting, she instantly saw results and closed $25,000 worth of new business within a two-week period.

3. A lasting impact. In essence, this is where you speak to your clients’ hearts. In my experience working with entrepreneurs, it’s also the most overlooked aspect of personal brand.

When you think back on what your past and current clients say about you, what is their experience of how you have affected them? What words and phrases have they used?

Ask yourself: In what ways can I go beyond simply providing a service or product to enlivening my clients’ lives? Integrate this lasting impact into your marketing message.

Karen Leland is an author and president of Sterling Marketing Group, a marketing and brand-strategy firm based in San Rafael, Calif. Her book, Ultimate Guide to Pinterest for Business, is available at entrepreneurbookstore.com and other booksellers. Find Leland on Pinterest.  

The author is an Entrepreneur contributor. The opinions expressed are those of the writer.

Posted in Business Branding, Business Cards, Business Name, Business Websites, Entrepreneur, Growth Strategies, Ideas, Internet Marketing, Marketing Ideas, Starting A Business, Web Site | Leave a comment

Content Diversity is Key to Search Engine Optimisation Success

Posted on June 4, 2013

So you always here the term SEO, well for today’s blog by, Kira, we have some content that will shed more light on that term!  Check it out and see how it can help you and your website!

Thanks!
-Carlos

Most webmasters know by now that if they churn out the same content and build the same type of links again and again, they are likely to be hit by an algorithmic update or a penalty. Google wants its users to be able to search and find high quality sites that offer fresh and original content. Google wants to avoid searchers landing on spammy websites that offer users nothing of value.

As a result, bloggers and webmasters should be thinking about the types of content they have to offer their readers. Churning out the same old boring type of blog will soon turn people off from what you have to say. Keeping the attention span of an already flighty internet user is difficult at the best of times. So in order to retain readers and keep them coming back to your site for more, you have to give them juicy, original content in various forms.

Content Tailored to Your Niche

The type of content you offer your readers may differ depending on your industry or niche. However, it is best to offer a range of content types, especially when you are embarking on a new content strategy. This way you can test the types of content that most appeal to your readers and give them more of what they want in the future.

Great Content for a Great SEO Strategy

The idea is that the more popular your content is, the more likely it is to be shared and linked to which will contribute to your search engine optimisation success. Becoming an authority within your niche through superior content will help to establish your site as a trusted source of valuable information that will serve you well in the rankings.
So which types of sharable content should you offer your readers?

Juicy Copy

Copy doesn’t have to be boring. Short, sharp and enticing copy can bring your blog to life. Readers want useful and interesting information quickly so if you are going to write in text, make it worth the read. Everything from catchy headlines to juicy, irresistible chunks of content should be considered when writing. Keep readers engaged by mixing short bullet points with summaries and interesting sound bite phrases that may be picked up by others in your industry. Good sound bites can generate links and traffic when your unique take on something is attributed by other bloggers.

Educational Infographics

Topics that are difficult to explain or would require lengthy copy to do so may be better presented as an educational infographic. Easily digestible and visually enticing, this type of content makes great link bait. By attracting links naturally through an infographic, you can drive relevant traffic to your site and spread the word about your brand with a branded infographics.

Entertaining Multimedia

A range of multimedia content can really help to increase the amount of time visitor spend on your site. Videos can help to display products in a visually interesting way whilst slideshows and audio clips can help explain things quickly with little effort required by the visitor. Like infographics, these multimedia content pieces can provide great link bait. If you turn them into tools, questionnaires or other forms interactive content that help your target audience, your content can remain useful long after it has been published. This kind of evergreen content can aid your SEO long into the future by acquiring links naturally as a useful port of call for readers within your niche.

Kira works for The WebMarketing Group, an internet marketing company specialising in search engine optimisation. To find out more, you can find her on Twitter @webmktinggroup.

Posted in Business Websites, Content, Internet Marketing, Marketing Ideas, SEO, Success Tips, Web Site, Web Site Redesign | Leave a comment

5 Business Secrets They Won’t Teach You in the Classroom

Posted on May 29, 2013

College graduation is just right around the corner, if you have not already done so!  For those of you that have, Congratulations!  Same for those of you that will be doing so very shortly!  Now that you will be entering into the working world, a lot of you will be starting your own businesses!  For those of you that will be doing so, this is a great blog by, Adam Toren!  Check it out and take full advantage of all the FREE knowledge that he provides you with!  For any other needs that you will need to get your business going, check the rest of our site out and see how we can help you!

Thanks!
-Carlos

At graduation, it’s important to remember one thing: College is only the beginning.

As you walk up to accept your diploma and move your tassel from one side to the next, you will join many friends, colleagues and family members who have similarly moved up through the ranks of higher education. And while graduation calls for celebration, the realities of the real world should soon set in — that is, the truths college never taught you.

Before launching your company, here are five secrets your professors likely didn’t teach you in the classroom:

1. College is chaotic, business is methodical.
The tortoise and the hare isn’t about speed, it’s about focus. While regurgitating information twice a semester during finals week got your through college, it isn’t going to cut it anymore. You can’t cram your way through your startup. You need to slow down the frantic pace, have a more even-keeled schedule and strategy. Keeping your nose to the grindstone will help fine tune your managerial and overall business skills. Remember, becoming a successful entrepreneur is a marathon, not a sprint.

2. Your major is more than book knowledge.
One of the most honest insights I discovered from an English professor friend was her explanation of what the students got out of her class. She believed that, while English wasn’t necessarily a circuitous major for a career, it was an opportunity to learn how to express yourself. College teaches you useful skills, but it is up to you to take it the next level.

3. Don’t brush off your electives.
It may seem like college electives were arbitrary and primarily used as an excuse to take Yoga 101. But these courses actually gave you credit for learning about areas outside your core classes and discovering different parts of yourself. If you found an unusual class, philosophy or club that piqued your interest, by no means forget about it. Take what you learned into the real world and apply it to your startup.

4. Group projects are productive.
I’m sure you are accustomed to dead weight in group projects — the people that do nothing but get the exact same grade as the hustlers. Don’t fret, you can turn this experience into a positive one through hiring the right people. Hire smart and use individual strengths for a stronger group. Good leadership means being able to form teams according to both compatibility and complementary skills. Use your negative group experiences to build better and more effective teams.

5. You don’t have to pay for knowledge
College is a great place to learn, but one of the most important aspects to realize about entrepreneurship is that it demands continuous learning. In other words, school isn’t over, as continuing your education and personal growth is vital. The best way to do this is by reading, getting involved with your community and seeking advice from others. If you’re strapped for time, invest in some audiobooks and learn something new while you make your commute.

Adam Toren is a serial entrepreneur, mentor, investor and co-founder ofYoungEntrepreneur.com. He is co-author, with his brother Matthew, ofKidpreneurs and Small Business, BIG Vision: Lessons on How to Dominate Your Market from Self-Made Entrepreneurs Who Did it Right (Wiley). He’s based in Phoenix, Ariz.

Posted in College Entrepreneurs, Entrepreneur, Marketing Ideas, Starting A Business | Leave a comment

7 Ways to Make Your Business Card Your Best Marketing Tool

Posted on May 24, 2013

The business card should be numero uno for all business people!  Your business card is what every person you hand one to will remember you by!  Most of the time when you hand out your card, you may only get to say a few words about yourself or your business!  So your card should say what you can’t after that person has gone their separate way!  Here are some great tips from, Ross Kimbarovsky and Mike Samson, to make your card be your best marketing tool!

Thanks
-Carlos

Every day we hand out a tiny brochure about our businesses without even realizing it. Look at the stacks on your desk, the deck in your drawer or the stash in your wallet. Business cards, in all sizes, shapes and colors, are everywhere. And yet, while we all understand that a business card is a necessity, we often fail to see it as a marketing opportunity.

It’s time to start seeing that little slip of paper for what it is: the best opportunity you have to market yourself or your business to a targeted and captive audience. After all, you chose to hand it to that person for a reason.

Here are six ways to spiff up your business card so that it collects sales, rather than dust:

1. Give your card a purpose. And we’re not just talking communication. Cards that multi-task will be seen far more frequently than your average business card. Turn it into a bookmark, an event ticket, a note card, scratch card or sticker. Make it a conversation piece and your business will automatically become a part of the conversation.

2. Track it. Include a QR code or SKU on your business card, and whenever you hand it out, give the recipient an incentive like discounts or coupons for checking out your site. This way, you’ll be able to track the rate at which your card compels people to action. If the current design and incentive doesn’t work, you can always try another.

3. Challenge people. Surprise people with a fun fact or figure on your business card. Think about a Trivial-Pursuit-style question or piece of trivia that applies to your business. For example, adding a simple fact — “You’re more likely to survive a plane crash than click on a banner ad” — could spur a conversation about new marketing channels and strategies, with business owners frustrated by their existing marketing efforts. Engage and amuse people when they read your card and your business will stand out.

4. Add credibility with testimonials. Customers relate to other customers. Because of that, testimonials speak volumes. Consider adding a brief quote or link to a quote on the back of your business card. It’s a great way to use valuable space that otherwise goes to waste.

5. Support a cause. Social impact and business go hand-in-hand these days. Let people know about causes that drive you. Use your card as a vehicle to make a difference, and recipients will gain a better understanding of what drives you as a person and a professional. For example, you can include: “Proud supporters of Feeding America.”

6. Put a face to the name. Consider putting your photo on your card so that people can continue to put a face to your name long after they’ve met you. A photo not only adds to the familiarity of your company’s brand and increases your likeability factor, but paints a picture of you as a person. It also makes you easily recognizable from your competition.

7. Make the handoff memorable. The physical act of exchanging your card can be more valuable than the card itself. Use it as a conversation starter to better understand where the person’s needs, interests or hobbies lie. As you hand out your card, mention when you will follow up and also reinforce a message about the value of your business.

Ross Kimbarovsky and Mike Samson co-founded crowdSPRING, a Chicago-based marketplace for custom logo design, web design, company naming and other writing and design services. They co-author the crowdSPRING blog, a marketing blog for entrepreneurs and small business.

Posted in Business Cards, Business Insights, Business Name, Content, Growth Strategies, Marketing Ideas, Networking | Leave a comment

What to Do If You Hate Your Brand

Posted on May 17, 2013

So as you all should know, one of the top things we like to preach about is business branding!  Branding is key for your success, so if you are not happy with your brand, check out this blog by, Erika Napoletano, as she gives some great insight into making your brand work for you!  So if you decide doing something with your brand is what you need to do, check us out and see how we can help you do so!

Thanks!
-Carlos

Loyal customers? Check. A trustworthy team? Check. Solid profit? Check. But something’s nagging at your gut. While everything looks right, it doesn’t feel right. This isn’t what you set out to build. You hate it. Or maybe you’re just bored. Something needs to change–and fast. You need to upend your brand.

It’s a scary idea–shaking up this thing that looks right and, at its essence, works pretty damn well. But instead of continuing to sit around with a burlap-skivvies level of comfy, you need to move some pieces around, toss others and build something that’s true to you.

Step 1: Assemble your front stabbers.
When prepping to upend your brand, you need a trusted set of advisors: I call them “front stabbers.” We all know people who are happy to give their opinions once your back is turned. But front stabbers–experts, partners, customers or friends–are brave enough to offer the straight-to-your-face, no-BS insights you need to set your brand right. They’ll help you figure out a new direction and goals for yourself, as well as what existing and (fingers crossed) new customers will want from you.

Step 2: Build a cocoon.
While upending your brand, wrap the process in a cocoon. No need to add customer confusion to the mix until you’re ready to show off the overhaul. Inside the cocoon, keep everything you need as you strategize.

Draw up a plan for your brand’s goals and new look and feel, as well as how you’ll convey those changes to your customers. Set yourself some hard deadlines for key points such as prototype completion, alpha and beta tests, launches and PR/social-support campaigns. Some people you’ll probably want inside the cocoon with you: web designers, branding and marketing partners and, of course, the front stabbers. Keep calling on them for their opinions so you can make all adjustments to the brand inside the cocoon before going live.

Step 3: Like a phoenix …
It’s go-live day. Signs and websites come down, new ones go up. Press releases go out. Time to toss those burlap skivvies and enter the world as a whole new you. Everything you hated is dead and gone. Everything worth keeping has been artfully crafted into the brand of your dreams–and your customers’ dreams.

Step 4: Don’t let it happen again.
Establish a system of checks and balances so your brand never bores you again. Some questions to keep asking yourself and your team:

  • Is this the work we want to be doing?
  • Are these the people we want to be working with?
  • Do we love our customers?
  • I know this will make money, but does the product align with our goals and values?

Upending your brand: Sometimes it’s the only way to find out what’s worth keeping so you can put your company back on the path of becoming everything you (and the right customers, not just the paying ones) love. The good news is that you listened to that uncomfortable feeling and asked, “What can I do to make this look and feel right?” Because the alternative just sucks. Running a business isn’t supposed to be about letting your business run you.

Erika Napoletano is the head redhead at RHW Media, a Boulder, Colo.-based company that solves hard marketing problems and gets people unstuck and on their way to being awesome.

Posted in Business Branding, Business Insights, Management, Marketing Ideas | Leave a comment

A Rude Experience Inspires a ‘Good’ Brand

Posted on May 15, 2013

Starting and running a business is not easy, so here is a little inspiration for all of you out there doing just that, or looking to start your own business!  This blog is by Sarah Max.

Thanks!
-Carlos

In the spring of 2008 Kris Wittenberg was out at lunch in her small town of Eagle, Colo., when a woman was rude to her. Looking back, she can’t remember the exact details. “I just remember coming back to my office and wondering why people can’t just be good to people,” she says.

The proverbial light bulb went off. Wittenberg, who runs a successful promotional products company, SayNoMore! Promotions, vowed to put “Be Good to People” on a T-shirt. In a moment of inspiration she went to GoDaddy.com to see if the website was available; much to her surprise, it was. “I bought it that moment,” says Wittenberg, who also began the process of trademarking the slogan.

Despite her initial flurry of inspiration, it took Wittenberg nearly a year to finally make that T-shirt. At the time, her promotions company, which she runs with her husband, August, was generating more than $1 million in annual revenue and on track to double sales from the previous year. “I just didn’t have time for another business,” she recalls.

That changed later that year when the pharmaceutical industry — a major chunk of their business at the time — agreed to stop giving out logoed pens, pads and other goodies. “Seventy-percent of our business was gone,” says Wittenberg. The recession, meanwhile, didn’t help matters.

To add to their string of bad news, the Wittenbergs were sued by their homeowners association for a parking area related to a home addition (the suit was settled out of court and they were cleared of wrongdoing). The night before a meeting with the HOA, Wittenberg made a homemade Be Good to People T-shirt out of iron-on letters. “The meeting went horribly,” she says, “but I had three people ask me where I got that T-shirt.”

That’s when Wittenberg began working on Be Good to People in earnest, ordering dozens of different products, from T-shirts and tumblers to blankets and satchels, all printed with the same mantra. Everything is in black and white, says Wittenberg, because the message is a fundamentally simple one.

When Wittenberg began selling the goods at weekend markets in nearby Minturn and Vail, sales were brisk. “People would buy four or five things and then come back and buy more,” she says. Wittenberg also signed up a couple dozen independent retailers around the country. It wasn’t enough to carry them through financially — but Wittenberg says it reignited her passion as an entrepreneur, which she credits for helping SayNoMore recover more quickly. “In 2010 we were back to where we were and have grown ever since,” she says.

These days Wittenberg is working on handing over more of her day-to-day duties at SayNoMore to her husband and half a dozen employees. “Ideally, I’d like to focus more of my attention on building out BGTP,” she says. Online sales are currently a small chunk of Be Good’s business, though it has nearly 19,000 followers on Facebook. When bad things happen in the world, she adds, activity typically picks up, though it doesn’t necessarily translate to sales.

Wittenberg is now speaking with investors and exploring alternative funding options. She’d like to build up her inventory, revamp the website and eventually take the concept global. “My vision is wherever you are in the world you’ll see Be Good to People,” she says, adding that her goal is to make it as ubiquitous as the smiley face was in the 1970s.

In the meantime, Wittenberg says that wearing Be Good to People garb has been an interesting social experiment. “I always wear BGTP when I travel, and I’ve met people because of it and even gotten upgrades I don’t think I would have gotten otherwise,” she says.

At the same time, having the slogan in front of her all day, she adds, has helped calm her usually intense personality. “We call them magic shirts because you put on a shirt and you’re nicer,” she says. “You can’t wear your Be Good to People shirt and be a jerk.”

Sarah Max is a freelance writer in Bend, Ore. She has covered business and personal finance for more than a decade for such publications as BusinessWeek, CNNMoney.com, Money and The Wall Street Journal. In 2009 Sarah got a first-hand look at the ups and downs of entrepreneurship when she helped launch 1859 Oregon’s Magazine, a quarterly magazine and website for which she is executive editor. 

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