5x5 success stories

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Victoria Kennedy is a Wall Street Journal best-selling author, TEDx speaker, and the CEO of Victorious PR . For some time now, economists have been speculating about the next recession, questioning whether 2023 will indeed be the year of the next economic downturn. Most believe that it’s likely to happen this year, so questions have shifted to “How long will it last?” Many consumers are paying more attention than ever to where they are spending their money. For this reason and many others, businesses need to ensure that they are seen as the best and most reputable. Naturally—and logically—this leads to informed discussions about strategy, sales, client retention, client relationships and so much more. While marketing might be the first thing that pops into a lot of business owners’ minds, the answer for many becomes public relations. Many view PR as a want, not a need, but with influencer marketing and … [Read more...] about Public Relations During A Recession: What You Need To Know To Move Your Business Forward

One of my favorite lines in a song comes from—wait for it—Katy Perry’s Roar : “I stood for nothing, so I fell for everything,” which is a cue for my youngest daughter to sprint to her costume pile, and the rest of my family to start dancing like crazy around our house. Anytime I am in a situation where I feel like keeping my hand down instead of raising it or swallowing a comment because I felt like my voice wasn’t the most important one in the room, I remember that line. If you don’t stand up for yourself, you are allowing someone else to choose your path. It’s only when you find your voice and stand your ground that you realize you always had the ability to do it, you just had to stand up for yourself. As often happens in my life, I learned this lesson the hard way, as a charity auctioneer. Tell me if this sounds familiar. You walk into a meeting filled with people of all ages and genders. This scenario doesn’t have to be in an office, it could be a classroom, a … [Read more...] about The mindset shift you need in order to stop your inner voice from sabotaging you

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Income tax rate reduction and flattening, along with the expansion of school choice, are among the most consequential policy trends of the early 2020s. However, there is another policy trend emerging that, like income tax relief and greater educational choice, is making states more attractive to workers and employers. That trend is the push by policymakers to remove or mitigate the barriers to employment that state occupational licensing requirements have become. On Tuesday, March 21, Florida legislators will hold a hearing on Senate Bill 1364, legislation to recognize out-of-state occupational licenses held by new residents so that they can get to work and begin earning income in their new home state right away. If this reform, known as Universal License Recognition (ULR), is passed by legislators in Tallahassee and signed into law by Governor Ron DeSantis (R) this spring, Florida would become state number 22 to enact ULR. … [Read more...] about Barriers To Employment Fall With The Rise Of Out-Of-State Occupational License Recognition

A U.S. ban on the world’s most popular social media app would affect far more American businesses and people than just the 150 million using the platform here. C asey Evertsen drove down a suburban Utah street lined with trash bins, speaking into his phone’s camera as he gave a tour of the brightly-colored truck he uses for his garbage can-cleaning business. “If you like seeing dirty stuff get cleaned and watching how cool stuff works, follow along,” he said in the video shared on TikTok. “Let’s clean some bins!” Evertsen’s service, Bin Blasters , had for a whole year struggled to get traction through Facebook and Instagram. So taking a cue from his teenage daughter, he decided to try promoting it on TikTok instead. On his eighth video, just one month in, Evertsen “blew up.” "I went out and just started cleaning bins that day, started on our route, and I look at my phone like an hour later, and there's 17,000 views,” he recalled. “Then it just got in the millions.” … [Read more...] about How A TikTok Ban Would Deal A Blow To Creators, Businesses And The American Economy

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Founder at M16 Marketing and a Forbes Agency Council member, Don is a leading marketing technologist on a mission to create success stories. What tools do you use for SEO? While you've probably heard of commercial SEO tools like Semrush, you may not be familiar with the Google site search operator, a versatile SEO tool that you can use to perform a variety of SEO tasks. What Is The Site Search Operator? Google supports over a dozen search operators . A search operator is simply a feature of Google's search engine that changes the way in which it returns organic listings. The site search operator—the main search operator we'll be focusing on for this article—is designed to return organic listings from a particular website or URL. To perform a search using the site search operator, enter "site:" into the Google search bar and then a website or URL (for example, "site:example.com" or … [Read more...] about How To Use The Google Site Search Operator To Perform SEO Tasks

The world watched in shock as Credit Suisse, one of the most established global banking and financial services institutions, collapsed and was eventually acquired by UBS. I believe a significant factor in Credit Suisse’s downfall was its rigid stance on forcing staff to return to the office. This cautionary tale serves as a reminder for business leaders to adapt to the changing world of work and prioritize their workforce’s needs and preferences. The Iron Fist: Credit Suisse’s return to office policy In stark contrast to the growing trend of many companies embracing a flexible hybrid work approach, Credit Suisse took a more traditional approach, mandating that staff return to the office three days a week. According to one banker there, “they’re removing our flexibility, and it doesn’t feel great.” In May 2022, the bank’s leadership originally supported flexibility and hybrid work as evidenced by then-CEO Thomas Gottstein professing that a return to office was “not … [Read more...] about POV: How work arrangements played a part in the collapse of Credit Suisse and SVB

A monk, a composer, and an industrial designer walk into a bar. No, I’m not making a joke. I’m simply imagining a hypothetical scenario where the cofounders of Headspace, Pandora, and Airbnb decide to meet up for drinks. You may think these figures represent a lonely cohort within tech entrepreneurship. We’re often confronted with the tired (and, as the data shows, largely inaccurate) stereotype of the algorithm-crunching, code-wrangling, Patagonia-wearing startup founder. These characters —who undeniably exist, but are more marginal than perhaps realized—effortlessly straddle the worlds of engineering and business. They’re the full package. Admittedly, these characters also tend to be the most visible. Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and Mark Andreessen all have storied engineering careers—and often complex personal and professional lives that inevitably work their way into popular culture. But when we examine the data, we see a different picture. Rather than … [Read more...] about POV: Tomorrow’s founders can’t code—and that’s OK

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Andrei Kasyanau , cofounder and CEO at Glorium Technologies. Startup advisor and an expert in health and real estate tech. Making it in health tech requires a great product that solves a real problem, complies with regulations and can scale successfully. You also need to market and sell your offering. And first and foremost, you must sell it to the investors—a big part of your job as a founder would be to chase them and convince them to listen to you. As the most significant share of our clients is in health tech, our company has helped dozens of successful medical products and companies develop, launch and grow. In this blog post, I'll recommend elements to back up your health tech startup's evaluation so investors will believe in your product. How Is Startup Evaluation Different In 2023? Due to startup market setbacks and the recession probability, there are several new rules for the tech startup … [Read more...] about How To Evaluate Your Healthtech Startup In 2023

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Surbhi Sarna didn’t intend to become an entrepreneur when she faced a potential cancer diagnosis. As a high school student, she just hoped to survive. But Sarna’s cancer scare did change her life—and perhaps the lives of millions of others. After Sarna finished college, she started nVision Medical. She created a device she hoped would one day catch ovarian cancer in its early stages. She later sold the company to Boston Scientific for $275 million. That’s the short story. But, in the longer version, Sarna’s pitch was rejected by 50 investors. They were skeptical because Sarna didn’t have an MBA or a medical school degree. In other words, she didn’t check off all the right boxes. “I’ve been underrated and doubted my entire life,” Sarna told me during an interview about her new book, Without a Doubt . Sarna’s transformation from underrated to unbeatable offers valuable lessons for anyone with an idea to share or a … [Read more...] about How An Entrepreneur Learned The Art Of The Pitch And Sold Her Startup For $275M

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Topline Amid growing global concern over the social media platform, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee Thursday, where U.S. lawmakers are expected to question Chew over safety concerns for minors and preventing U.S. user data from foreign access. Key Facts In Chew’s first appearance before Congress, he’s expected to discuss the company’s privacy and data security practices, as well as the company’s relationship with the Chinese government, which has come under increased scrutiny in recent months. Prepared Remarks Chair Rodgers, Ranking Member Pallone, and Members of the Committee: Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to talk about TikTok and our mission to inspire creativity and bring joy to more than 1 billion people worldwide. I look forward to discussing what makes TikTok so special to the diverse audiences it serves, as well as our … [Read more...] about TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew’s Prepared Comments Before Congress