Why Offering Discounts May Be a Major Mistake

Shoppers love a bargain. The likes of Groupon and LivingSocial wouldn’t exist otherwise, and the art of bargain hunting long predates daily-deal sites. Among the key reasons why offering discounts can be such a powerful sales tool: Most people aren’t very good at math.

Phone Support as the Entrepreneur's Millenium Falcon

We've spent the last month surveying startups in depth about their customer support efforts, leading us to a surprising conclusion: the telephone might act for a growing young startup in the same way the Millenium Falcon did for Han Solo – as a key vehicle for facilitating your change in direction or ...

Setting up a virtual pbx with Twilio, OpenVBX and PHP Fog

We've been reading that adding a phone number increases conversions. When people sign up and pay us, we give them our cell phone numbers. But, we wanted to have a way for people to get in touch with us pre-sales for us to answer any questions.

If you're looking for the easiest option, you can exit here ...

How to Start a New Business on the Cheap, Part 2

Earlier this week I gave you three keys to starting a business on a tiny budget. That first post focused on planning, fundraising, and office space. Now let’s look at the second half of the equation: marketing the new venture and operating it on the cheap.

THE MARKETING

To win in today’s startup world, you ...

4 ways live chat can improve your marketing

Let’s be honest, no one likes pop-ups. You get to a site, you want to check things out and you don’t want something shoved in your face. If you recall, that’s basically how live chat used to work. Luckily things have changed and companies have developed tools that don’t interfere with the user experience.

For ...

Why You Should Think Like a Fortune 500 CEO from Day 1- and Other Branding Lessons from Grasshopper.

If you're an entrepreneur and use a phone system for business (other than your personal cell) you're probably using Grasshopper. At the very least, you've probably heard of the virtual phone system that enable entrepreneurs to work from anywhere while maintaining a professional presence.

Since first ...

PR vs. Social Media [VIDEO]

Mike: Hey everyone, it's Mike Sullivan from MO.com. Thanks for being with me. Joining me today is Stephanie Bullis of Grasshopper. Now I know that you're used to hearing Jonathan Kay come out, and we'll touch on where Jonathon is in a bit. But I'd like to welcome Stephanie, and she has a PR background. ...

What's Your Dream Startup Team? Make One and Win Tickets to the Final Four

Who's your ideal CEO? Mark Zuckerberg? Zappos's Tony Hsieh? Dropbox's Drew Houston? Grasshopper, a Boston-based virtual phone company, has launched a contest that lets you draft your startup dream team, with the top 16 teams being entered into bracket competition, to be decided via votes. The winner wins ...