This summer I set out to launch an course for people seeking to enter the medical marijuana business in PA. I wanted people to pay for the course online and planeed to deliver much of the content through recorded course modules. I had never launched an online course before so I had some research to do. In this post, I'll share what I learned. Besides the actual course content and interaction, there are three key components to consider in launching an online course: 1) The Online Course Studio 2) The Online Course Back Office 3) The Online Course Marketing The... Continue reading

Three checklists for use before, during and after the website design and build from an experienced web marketing project manager. Continue reading

We are fortunate to have serial entrepreneur Yasmine Mustafa as part of the Cheap Revolution team. Yasmine is currently working hard on her fourth startup called ROAR for Good - a social impact company that seeks to reduce violence against women. ROAR provides a device to empower women to protect themselves in dangerous situations. Check out our 5 minute interview with Yasmine (transcript below). (Apologies for the noise near the end of the video... we were in a classroom and someone lowered the projector screen to prepare for class.) VIDEO TRANSCRIPTION FOLLOWS... Cheap Revolution: Please start off by telling us... Continue reading

As a seasoned entrepreneur and teacher of entrepreneurship, I am so excited about transferring my classroom frameworks into a rapidly emerging marketplace—the Cannabis market. Cannabis is the scientific name for the marijuana plant, and its market has reached the tipping point. This is a wave that I couldn’t ignore. So, for the past several months, I’ve been investigating and researching Credit: en.wikipedia.org. Medical cannabis in the United States this market, and I’ve used my favorite tactics to shed light on this new, emerging opportunity. So, here’s an early tour of my ideas and research. I hope this helps you think... Continue reading

One of my least favorite parts of a business is the legal process whether it's incorporating a company, devising the operating agreement, filing a provisional patent, trademarking a name or phrase, compiling the terms and conditions, and the list goes on and on. It's necessary and much-needed but I find it numbing to read the documents not to mention how time-consuming the process can be. It's also expensive and the fees can quickly add up depending on what your needs are. Luckily, there are more resources today than ever from free templates, discounted services, and legal resources. Below is a... Continue reading

In my dream last night, I was at a party. A guitar-playing hippie was encouraging me to find a drum that worked for me. I woke up thinking, "I will bang on drums until I find one that resonates!" As entrepreneurs, we sometimes find ourselves in a rut. The work that fired us up when we started, has become dull and uninspired. Pretty soon, you feel like you are punching a time clock. Steve Jobs famously said, "If I find myself not liking what I'm doing more than a few days, I stop - and go do something else." Some... Continue reading

(NOTE: This was originally intended for the blog at www.phillymarketinglabs.com . It is used here with permission of Philly Marketing Labs management. As PML has grown, this system has gradually been phased out. That said, it served us very well in funding a business building capacity at PML with limited resources during the startup phase. Consider this as a case study on building a flexible compensation system for a startup service company. - Skip Shuda) Building a business is hard work. Building a business in a sputtering economy may often require a herculean effort. As a young, digital marketing agency... Continue reading

How is Teamwork for managing a team of people? Recently, a lot of people have asked me about my favorite Project Management tool, Teamwork. I use this tool for organizing my internal team members at my digital marketing agency (PML) and a non-profit I work with (DMAX Foundation). In this video, I demonstrate how easy it is to sign-up and get started with Teamwork. I create some of the first things you'll need for a Teamwork-driven project initiative. I also provide a high level tour of the more advanced capabilities of the tool. This is definitely worth a watch if... Continue reading

What do Denzel Washington, Tiny Fey, Sheryl Sandberg, Meryl Streep, Maya Angelou and nearly 50% of all successful people have in common? They feel like frauds. It’s known as the imposter syndrome and it refers to the condition of not believing we are good enough … that we don’t belong … and that sooner or later people will find out. Dr. Margaret Chen, head of the World Health Organization, stated “There are an awful lot of people out there who think I’m an expert. How do these people believe this about me? I’m so much more aware of all the... Continue reading

Anthony Gold is a serial entrepreneur who went from a high-level position at Unisys, to running a health startup, and is now carving a name for himself in the career domination space. Listen to the video to learn how he got started, what he's doing now, his current challenges, his advice to other entrepreneurs, and tools he uses in his work. Anthony's motto: "Life is too short to be in a job you don't love or to be unhappily unemployed." You can follow him on @Anthonys_Desk and visit his site, Anthony's Desk, where he provides career tips, tutorials and advice. Continue reading

If you're not familiar with the David & Goliath story, it goes a little something like this: David was a young, meek shepherd boy and Goliath was a mighty warrior no one wanted to fight. David takes him on and ends up killing him with a sling. In short, the long shot defeats the favorite. This book explores what makes underdogs succeed against giants using studies and existing research. We use this all the time in the business world when we talk about the competition or business strategies between a startup (or small business) and bigger companies. In the Philly... Continue reading

Ancient Chinese philosophers developed the “I Ching” or “Book of Changes” to help people understand choices before them. The Book is a series of tri-grams, or patterns, which correlate to bits of wisdom that are to be applied to a given situation. The method of divining a response is quite meditative. The person who wishes to better understand how to think about a dilemma or important decision is encouraged to reflect on the question while they cast a set of yarrow sticks or coins in a specific manner. The casting follows several iterations to develop the appropriate tri-gram for the... Continue reading

Hey everyone! Starting in 2014, Yasmine Mustafa and I are working together to breathe new life into The Cheap Revolution. As experienced, serial entrepreneurs, we're both passionate about helping entrepreneurs to build their businesses with affordable tools and smart, agile and lean methodologies. Expect to see us post more regularly on these topics and as well as profile aspiring, up and coming, and experienced entrepreneurs in our new "Entrepreneur Profiles" page. Stop in and look around. Let us know what you'd like to see more of - and join our community by signing up for our latest blog posts! Continue reading

There are more ways than ever to boost your productivity and run your small business at optimal efficiency. From organizing your receipts to low cost labor to user-friendly accounting services, small business startups can now operate effectively on a far lower budget than would have been possible even a decade ago. And if you take advantage of the wealth of productivity tools at your fingertips, you can gain a serious leg up over the vast majority of your competition. With so many new innovations coming to market by the week, it is nearly impossible to be aware of everything that... Continue reading

Entrepreneurs and small business owners are often struggling to balance their need for great Internet marketing and their limited budget. In today’s post, I thought it would be helpful to share some of the marketing basics that business owners can use to drive results on a limited budget. This blog post is geared towards business owners with a website, a solid understanding of their customers, a knowledge of your competition and a sense of your brand message. If you don’t have every one of these elements, conquer these goals first – and then return to this post. See Step 1... Continue reading

New tools have emerged in the last few years and not all startups and small businesses know how to use them effectively. In "Meatball Sundae" by Seth Godin - unarguably the most popular marketer in the world - Seth provides a guide to the latest marketing trends that should not be ignored. Instead of focusing on tactics like creating a Facebook page, making a video, or writing a blog (which Seth dubs as ice cream toppings), he explains how to devise the right strategy based on your demographics, brand and market. This is a great guide for those that want... Continue reading

By now you should already be aware of the value of social media where marketing is concerned. These days, there is another aspect of social media marketing that has become a very powerful tool. It focuses on something that has long been considered important in traditional marketing: location. Known as location-based social media marketing, it aims primarily to encourage people to “check-in” physically at your business location by offering discounts and other incentives in exchange. The Advantages A location-based social media marketing campaign costs practically nothing. Therefore, if you’re able to get significant results from this campaign, it can indeed... Continue reading

We're about two and a half months away from July 1, 2013, when Google Reader is due to shut down. By now, many bloggers have switched to Feedly, The Old Reader, or other alternatives to consume their news if they were using it in the first place. However, one critical misstep is not setting up a plan to retain the readers that are subscribing to your blog. I've already replaced my RSS Reader with Feedly because the switching cost was low as it allowed me to import my Google Reader settings automatically. Not many others possess that feature. What if... Continue reading

In every issue, Website Magazine covers key topics for Internet success: search engine optimization and marketing, website design, e-commerce, online advertising, email marketing, analytics, and customer service/customer relationship management. For a limited time, you can receive free copies of this magazine. Subscriptions include four quarterly issues, plus Web Success Update, daily newsletters with how-to tips and technology news, and the Web100 special issue via email. Issues are available in print, digital, smartphone, and iPad editions. We subscribe to the newsletter and we find it a great way to stay updated on the latest technology and marketing news. Request your free... Continue reading

In 2011, more people bought a smartphone than a PC and one in seven searches was conducted on a mobile device. Over 500 million people use Facebook on a mobile device and it's outgrowing desktop use by two to one. That means people are spending twice as much time checking Facebook on their mobile device than their computer. For businesses to take advantage of this trend, Hubspot has compiled a whitepaper on how to use Facebook for mobile marketing to generate leads. This is a really good read for startups and small businesses. After going through this 42-page eBook, you... Continue reading

Running a small business is tough these days. During uncertain economic times, you need to be constantly keeping an eye on your bottom line. Although you want to show your employees they are valued and appreciated, you need to do it on a budget. But just because you are looking for ‘cheap’ gift ideas for your employees doesn’t mean you have to give them the impression that you’re cheap. There are several ways you can show appreciation to your employees without breaking the bank. Here are nine gift ideas that are both affordable and will make your employees happy: 1.... Continue reading

Compare the features, costs and benefits of Mailchimp, Constant Contact, iContact, Vertical Response, StreamSend and more. Make an informed choice. Continue reading

If you want advice, ask for money. If you want money, ask for advice. - from an entrepreneur, based on hard lessons learned I teach a course at the Wharton Small Development Center on entrepreneurship. I've been working with the Wharton SBDC for nearly a decade and one of the most powerful tools promoted by the SBDC is Primary Research. In short, Primary Research refers to talking to people in your startup's eco-system. This might include prospective customers, suppliers and competitors. Understanding what is working, what is broken, who is the best at this and where the industry is heading... Continue reading

This interview with entrepreneur Ryan Draving, Founder of CompeteLeap, took place in August, 2012. Cheap Revolution founder Skip Shuda and Ryan worked together previously together at Philly Marketing Labs, a digital marketing agency. Continue reading