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Positive employee morale in the office is the key ingredient to a successful company. If morale is low, employees will often be disengaged and less productive on the job. Startups are known for being great places to work and fostering a positive company culture.

How do they do this? Let’s find out!

Tip #1 — Get Feedback and Use It

Companies are built from honest feedback. Listen to what your employees want, and follow up. Encourage an honest and open environment to find out what employees are looking to get out of their job. Whether it’s more flexibility or a snack bar in the office, genuinely listen and do your best to make it happen!

Many companies offer additional benefits to their employees such as health insurance, snacks, stock optio...

Millennials in the workforce prefer experiences over other forms of compensation. This generation would rather travel to new places and try new things than toil away in a cubicle and receive an annual bonus check.

This is good news for companies that are eager to attract young talent without resorting to stratospheric salaries. But placing a greater priority on business travel creates a different set of cost concerns.

Millennials have proven to be more willing than older generations to splurge on the company dime when traveling. Because many consider business travel as a working vacation, they are generally less interested in traveling frugally.

This puts smaller companies and startups in a difficult spot. Making business travel a regular p...

I first started interviewing with Google as a 22-year old. This year, I turn 30. Google is an exceptional place to work — the culture, people, products, and perks are world-class. Having spent the bulk of my 20’s with Google, I can say with confidence that the company grew to be more than an employer to me; it became family. So my decision to leave was very challenging.

However, when I think of where I am headed next — to start my own company to educate kids about financial literacy — I am filled with excitement and optimism. I am also filled with fear. Walking away from comfort, predictability, and an income — all at the same time — surely qualifies as the biggest “here goes nothing” moment in my life. This is my story.

Broken Technology ...

The acquisition of new donors is important, but you can’t neglect past donors and the support they bring. While the retention rate of first-year donors is only 23.7%, the retention rate of multi-year donors jumps to just over 58%.

Build a relationship with those supporters and keep them engaged outside of fundraising. That will keep your retention rates up and they’ll be more likely to respond when you call on them.

Email marketing is a great, non-invasive, and non-interruptive way to stay in front of supporters while also providing value. Even better, the ROI is significant. As your list grows, a single email to your supporters could trigger an influx of donations, greatly reducing the time it takes to hit fundraising targets.

Here’s how ...

What happens when we've got someone in the organization who’s just simply a bad apple? What's the cost of waiting to address that problem?

It's a tried and true case of the "toxic employee" — and nearly every startup deals with it sooner or later.

What's a toxic employee?

A toxic employee is someone in the organization who absolutely loves to trash the organization, or in some cases just cause nonstop drama.

They can't wait to get into any situation where they can tell anyone willing to listen what a bunch of idiots run the company while insisting that their solution (if they have one) is clearly the answer.

They get their validation from stirring up problems, not solving them.

What's the cost of doing nothing?

The cost of doing nothing ...

Social Media is a great way to create buzz and connect with your users in a personal way. Since it’s free and open to everyone, instead of investing money as you would with traditional advertising, you need to invest time in building connections. This is easiest to do if you grow your social media presence along with your startup.

Friends become Fans

Beginning musicians fill their shows with friends and many entrepreneur’s first customers are there parents. The same is true with your start-up’s online presence. Invite every Facebook friend and every friend of friend to like your page. Many people are willing to do a little free press for someone they know personally. All you have to do is ask. By recruiting your inner circle to act as a fo...

Convertible debt can solve a very common problem for early stage startups: it allows founders to delay determining the value of their company and still take money from investors.

The Easiest Example Ever

Let’s say you come up with an idea for a coffee-flavored lemonade stand. You don’t know if this will be a total flop or the next Starbucks, but you need $50 to get this lemonade stand launched.

You go to Uncle Earl. He’s willing to contribute $50, but since you can’t figure out what the value of the lemonade stand is—it’s not even launched yet!—he agrees to give the $50 now and figure out what percentage of the business he will get later.

Earl only agrees to do this because you offer him 3 financial incentives which make it interesting to ...

They say nothing worth having comes easy – and that definitely holds up when it comes to acquiring customers for your startup.

Customer acquisition doesn’t just happen. Customers don’t just fall into your lap, ready to hand over their money. A customer’s business isn’t something that is owed to you – it’s an honor that has to be earned.

In a lot of ways, says growth marketer and Ghost Influence Founder Brian Swichkow, customer acquisition is a lot like going on a date. “The internet is the bar. Your website is your house. Your email list is your bedroom. Customer acquisition is, well… you know,” he says.

Cue the Marvin Gaye song.

So what does it take to, ahem, close the deal with respect to acquiring customers? Brian joins us to explore jus...

The publishing industry is both volatile and in many ways stuck in tradition, so if you’re trying to get a mention or more for your product or your startup, you need to understand the constraints and go through the right doors.

I’ve led Marketing and Content Analytics at The Huffington Post, VentureBeat, and Federated Media, and have seen the underbelly of the editorial business. And as a startup mentor and advisor, I’ve also seen many promising young companies struggle to break into the publishing world and go about it all wrong. If you’re trying to get media attention for your product or startup, read these tips first.

There are 3 ways to get published:

Work with a PR agency who knows the right people. Tread carefully on this path. PR ag...

Thanks to the internet, we’re riding the wave of a communication boom that makes the printing press pale in comparison. And during a time when inflation and economic instability has hit America’s working class the hardest, this boom has created huge opportunities for more people to claim their financial freedom — and to do so from the comfort of their couches.

Whether you telecommute, you sell products on Etsy, or you have started a new web-based business, an internet connection is the new cornerstone of commerce. However, the secret to success in this new frontier is not a secret at all. Hard work, persistence, and planning are still critical to taking your business from a pie-in-the-sky dream to a profitable business endeavor.

Success Sta...