Pnc Bank Professional Services

The more successful you are at targeting specific areas of expertise and types of clients, the better chance you have of attracting new ones. Here are four tips to help you define your target market.

No matter how skilled you are at developing clients in your area, you may get to a point when the local market simply isn’t big enough to accommodate further growth. Fortunately, the online economy enables smaller firms to reach out to new customers in ways once open only to major companies. Here are a few tips to develop a strategy for extending your reach.

At some point in your professional services career, you’ll likely be asked to make a public presentation. And just as likely, you’ll fret over the details. Don’t go in unprepared. Here are some tips for delivering a memorable presentation at a client event, conference or seminar.

According to entrepreneurial counselor Michelle McQuaid in Forbes magazine, bad bosses cost businesses $360 billion in lost productivity every year. Here are five telltale signs that you need to strengthen your leadership skills.

When the time comes to find a buyer for your business, the process can be challenging — and stressful. According to the International Business Brokers Association, the typical sale takes nine months to one year, on average. But take heart: The right buyer is out there. This podcast covers how to find a worthy prospect and close the deal.

In today’s rapidly changing business environment, no firm can rest on its laurels. Your firm may be successful today, but to guarantee you’ll be successful tomorrow, you need to identify and win the next client. This podcast poses some questions to help you develop focused and effective plans for business development.

Bring Your Own Device, or B-Y-O-D, is becoming the norm for many companies. This podcast offers tips to creating an effective but unobtrusive BYOD policy that keeps the firm’s data safe but isn’t stifling to employees.

Research shows that 60 to 80 percent of all difficulties at work have to do with strained relationships, according to Van Moody, author of The People Factor. This podcast offers tips to help you be better at setting healthy boundaries and creating more positive relationships at work.

Holiday season is prime time for socializing and meeting new clients and contacts. This podcast offers tips to help you capitalize on networking events and build real relationships with the people you meet.

Giving up control is sometimes difficult, but micromanaging hinders staff development and creates a more stressful workplace. To get the best out of your employees, try substituting micromanaging with effective delegation. Here are some pointers.

Conventional investing wisdom states that a diversified portfolio delivers higher returns and minimizes risks. Diversification is good for your business as well. Avoid letting a large majority of your sales become dependent on one or two clients. This podcast explores some ideas for shaking up your client base.

Public relations is a strategic and measurable part of marketing. Know what you want before you hire a firm.

With so much hype in marketing trends, it can be difficult to determine which are simply fads and which can really help you grow your business. This podcast examines four trends to look into: content marketing, image-centric marketing, minimalist approaches, and ad retargeting.

A 2011 American Institute of CPAs study found that although women represent 45 percent of all employees at accounting firms, they account for just 21 percent of all partners. This podcast explores ways your firm can help further women in accounting and create a more diverse leadership team.

Near field communication, also known as NFC, is a secure radio technology that enables two devices to wirelessly trade data when they are within about five centimeters of each other. NFC has been bandied about as the next big thing for mobile payments for several years, and it may finally be taking off. Juniper Research predicts that NFC-enabled payments will total $180 billion dollars by 2017. Here’s what you need to know about this new technology.

For some businesses, intellectual capital represents their largest and most valuable asset. Intellectual capital is actually an umbrella term for three types of non-physical business assets: human capital, organizational capital and relational capital. This podcast will explain the three types of non-physical business assets and offer steps to help quantify their value.

Benchmarking is no longer just for Wall Street firms. Thousands of small business owners have turned to low-cost or free benchmarking services to assess their young companies based on an analysis of comparable data from their peers. Discover more benefits in this podcast.

You may be losing sales if you don’t accept credit or debit card payments. A First Data study found that only 32 percent of consumers prefer to pay with cash. There are other reasons you should be accepting multiple forms of payment. Discover more benefits to credit and debit cards in this podcast.

Although it may be difficult to put a price tag on a big brand, it is possible. Using a mathematical formula, New York University Stern School of Business compared the brand value of Kellogg’s to a generic cereal and calculated that Kellogg’s brand attributed for 68 percent of the company’s value. This podcast explains why even professional services firms need to establish a brand identity.

It’s tempting for small businesses to want to emulate successful large companies, such as Apple, Nike or Disney. But looking to huge corporations for inspiration is often less useful than leveraging information from like-minded, like-sized businesses. This podcast explores some ideas to help you learn from your peers.