The Sound of Silence

The only way to make it in this economy is to be great, because "it's the only thing that pays," according to Grant Cardone, sales expert and author of  Sell or Be Sold: How to Get Your Way in Business and in Life . "If you're not going to be great in sales, go get another career, because it's too hard to do if you're not going to succeed," Cardone adds. "Great salespeople are literally the engine of every economy in the world." So how does one become great? How do you close the deal faster than anyone else? We recently caught up with Cardone, who shared with us 20 qualities that he thinks set great sales people apart from everyone else. 1. They don't think in terms of sales but rather in terms of building a business.  Great sales people are building a business, not just trying to make a sale. When you think beyond a sale, you're going to get other people's attention much more easily. They're going to be more interested in w...

Most small businesses juggle several social media accounts at once, and with great difficulty. Thankfully, web developers have come to the rescue with a myriad of applications to maximize the social-media experience across all platforms. Here are 18 of the most effective and time-saving applications currently on the market across the five most popular social media sites for business. Twitter 1 . SocialBro : "The number-one marketing platform for Twitter," SocialBro maps community engagement on a simple graph. This is a tool made for businesses with the goal of monetizing their followings. A 15-day free trail is offered. 2. Tweetdeck : Now owned by Twitter, Tweetdeck aims to maximize reach. With its customizable dashboard, users can schedule future tweets and monitor activity across several accounts -- all at a glance. 3. Social Rank : Your Social Rank groups your best followers, most engaged and most valuable. From this information, businesses can take extra care of valuable ...

If you’re like me, you probably use Google many times a day. But chances are, unless you're a technology geek, you probably still use Google in its simplest form. If your current use of Google is limited to typing in a few words and changing your query until you find what you’re looking for, then I’m here to tell you that there’s a better way -- and it’s not hard to learn. On the other hand, even if you are a technology geek and can use Google like the best of them already, I still suggest you bookmark this article of advanced Google search tips. Then, you’ll then have the tips on hand when you're ready to pull your hair out in frustration watching a neophyte repeatedly type in basic queries in a desperate attempt to find something. The following advanced Google search tips are based on my own experience and things that I actually find useful. I’ve kept the descriptions of the search tips intentionally terse, as you’re likely to grasp most of these simply by looking at the exam...