BizSugar.com › User › DevonSmiley › Voted

I get it. You have a great relationship with you client. And your go-to vendor feels like family. So a smile and a handshake seem like the right way to do business. Wrong. Read on to find out why you shouldn’t be taking chances with your business relations. Read More

For all of the hustle and positive energy we pour into our businesses as entrepreneurs, it’s still an uphill battle. And guess what – you may be making it even harder than it needs to be. Find out if you’re part of the problem – and how to fix it. Read More

Deadlines, high expectations, demanding deliverables and a whole lot of ego can push us to speed through a negotiation. We push ourselves and our counterparts faster and faster. But it doesn’t need to be that way. Pause – take a breath – and get better results. Read More

We only have a slim window to make a great impression and capture the attention of an audience. If your communication is less-than clear, your impact will be less-than optimal. Here are three exercises that will take you from clear as mud to clear as day in your communications. Read More

Contracts, by nature and definition are binding. Restrictive. All about things being in black and white, clear as day. But it is possible to use the clarity and commitment of a contract to create flexibility for you and your company. Here’s how. Read More

In a perfect world, each negotiation we start would result in an amazing deal. We’d sail smoothly through discussions and raise a glass of bubbly at the end. In reality, it’s rarely like that. Here’s how to tell when you should keep at it, and when you should call it quits on a negotiation. Read More

Having a conversation with a client about raising our rates can bring up a lot of uncertainty and nerves. But in order to grow our business, it’s important to find a way to push through. Here, I share my top tips for raising your rates without feeling greedy. Read More

There aren’t many of us who relish hearing a ‘no’ when we ask for something important to us. But it happens. A lot. The key to achieving our goals is rising above this rejection and finding a way over, around or through what’s standing in our way. Here’s how. Read More

It’s easy to come up with reasons we don’t want to negotiate. Too scary. Takes too long. Frustrating. But to grow our businesses, we can’t let those excuses stand in our way. Read on to find the motivation that will help you step up in your business and ask for what you need. Read More

It happens to all of us sooner or later. We hit a roadblock in our business, hear a few too many ‘Nos’, and struggle with breaking through a plateau. Unless we can find a way to use that frustration to our advantage, we’ll find ourselves moving farther away from our goals - read on to find out how. Read More