So you want to offer a new product, course, service. Something you absolutely know that your customers need and will love!

Or are you a little unsure if they will actually buy it?

In our Armenian home growing up, lamb was a staple especially on Sunday. I still love it!

Eggplant, on the other hand? That is another story! Fried, stuffed, mashed. Couldn't stand it then - still can't stomach it.

Now if my mom would have surveyed my sisters and me ahead of time on all our favorite foods, we could have made her shopping so much more efficient!

A boy can dream, right? 🙂

As [...]

Cheryl and I were featured on a Podcast, Infusion Cast, with host Jason Hartman of Hartman Media to chat about what Barron Marketing does for our clients using...

You guessed it...automated marketing. You can see the original page here if you’re looking for a solid podcast about how other companies are using Infusionsoft to grow their businesses.

/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Hartman-Media-IC6-Automated-Marketing-with-Art-Basmajian-and-Cheryl-Hunt.mp3 Transcript

Intro: Are you ready to grow sales? Save time? And make money? Automated marketing has never been easier! And Infusion Cast bring you hard hitting interviews with the thought leaders and experts in small business sales and marketing that will give you inside tips! tricks! hacks! And [...]

God help the small business owner.

Had you known what you were getting into, would you still have taken the plunge?

Or would you have chosen the more-traveled road?

In the 30 years of being the captain of my own ship, there have been moments when the 9-5 life of a car salesman seemed pretty darn attractive.

But at the end of the day, joining the ranks of clock punchers just isn’t an option.

Webster defines a paradox as a seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well founded or true.

So here are 11 [...]

“It is far better to be exhausted from success than to be rested from failure.” – Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics

We have moments when we want to quit.

Days when we're brain-dead from exhaustion.

But we get up and face the next day determined to close that next killer sale or rank #1 on Google.

Facing challenges head on with resolve and gusto is in our blood. Conquering the impossible is what we live and breathe for.

My motto for all of my adult life has been “Second Sucks!!”

Give up? Not even in my vocabulary.

Reality is, though... most [...]

You’ve heard the rags-to-riches stories.

From waiting tables to millionaire by the age of 28.

From living on the streets to owning multiple homes.

And while all those stories are inspiring to small business owners...the road to riches is a bit more “down and dirty.”

Entrepreneur and author Mike Michalowicz compares true entrepreneurialism to a typical bathroom experience: “business” is done and you discover only 3 sheets of TP left on the roll!

Necessity breeds invention if you want to leave the rest room smelling like a rose.

Serious business owners don’t gain success in their industries by sitting around hoping [...]

It was the spring of 2007.

The real estate industry was self-imploding, and you could smell the fear.

My mortgage business of twenty years was dying on the vine.

I got involved in Internet marketing as a way to supplement my income - and I couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t getting the results that I was expecting.

The results I should have been getting.

I mean, I was doing everything right. Exactly like the “gurus” told me.

Stuff like...

... reading the recommended books like Action Selling and The Ultimate Sales Letter.

... forcing myself to check my emails only twice a day.

... tweeting and posting Facebook [...]

How do you justify the expense of attending professional conferences?

Event ticket, travel, hotel, food expenses – they all add up.

How do you begin to measure ROI?

If you’re like the majority of us... at the very least you total up all your receipts and hand them over to your accountant as a tax write-off.

And you toss the conference swag bag (now a cluttered pile of business cards, speaker/session notes, and vendor booth free goodies) in a closet or a corner in your office.  You tell yourself you’ll get to them as soon as you catch up on all the stuff that [...]

Me and Batman. Every Tuesday and Thursday night at 7:30.

I never missed a single show!

Batman and Robin kept the Joker in line and rid Gotham City of the bad guys.

You’re an entrepreneur and a superhero by default. It’s your calling, and the world needs you.

Every day you toss on your cape and battle your competitors. You battle those who doubt you can make a go of your dreams. And you protect your customers.

You feel the weight on your shoulders – payroll to make for your employees, results to achieve for [...]

I’d rather have a colonoscopy than watch reality tv, but there’s one show I never miss.

ABC’s Shark Tank.

Premiering in 2009 and still going strong, it’s the most-watched program on Friday nights.

Hopeful entrepreneurs go on the program and present their business idea to a panel of self-made millionaire investors (Sharks) with a goal of convincing at least one Shark to invest in their concept in exchange for a stake in their company.

First comes the pitch… portable urinals that look like a golf club, remote-controlled bird feeders that allow you to “zap” pesky squirrels, and man candles designed to freshen your house but [...]

Leave it to a small Canadian airline carrier to show up like no one else!

WestJet, a budget carrier founded in 1996 that services flights to only 85 destinations, scored BIG in a holiday marketing campaign that went viral after posting their video on YouTube.

Here’s how their outrageously successful campaign unfolded:

As passengers boarded their flights in Toronto and Ontario, a Santa appeared on a large screen and asked the travelers what they’d like for Christmas… with wishes ranging from socks and underwear to a flight home for the holidays to a big screen tv!

Behind the screens, employees were furiously taking notes. [...]