This site is dedicated to entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship.  We’re small business owners, looking for and offering workable business ideas.  But mostly, we’re about take-off-the-gloves, mud ‘n blood survival skills for tough-minded, stubborn solo-preneurs who love the fight and freedom of working for ourselves.   

Most business advice is for the big multi-billion-dollar, multi-national corporations like IBM or General Motors. And, quite frankly, much of it has little relevance to a business in which R & D can mean a brilliant idea in the shower, or in which a budget meeting may involve a chat around the kitchen table over ice cream. In other words, we’re pretty reality-based. We created this site to make your life easier, your business more profitable, your time more productive, and, most of all, to remind you that, yes, you may be crazy for being in business for yourself, but you’re not alone. Join us for a read or subscribe to our feed.   

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“If you don’t drive your business, you’ll be driven out of business.”                         — Malcolm Forbes

  

  

John Ingrisano:  Helping Businesses Survive,    

Thrive, and Make Money Since 1985   

    

  

Since 1985, I have helped hundreds of businesses – from Mom ‘n Pop shops to multi-national corporations – define their objectives, identify their competitive advantages, focus on their bottom-line activities and marshal their resources to achieve enhanced profits.     

As established public speaker and classroom trainer, I educate and motivate industry groups of all sizes through platform presentations and seminar training on custom tailored subjects ranging from sales skills to customer service to branding to the joys and terrors of being a business owner.       

A shameless self-promoter, allow me a few minutes to brag:    

• I am knowledgeable on selling, marketing and business management.  The author of The Back to Basics Book of Selling and The Back to Basics Book of Money, as well as hundreds of articles about starting, running and growing your business.  Additionally, as a business journalist, I write the “Focus: Small Business” column for Corporate Report Wisconsin each month, am a regular contributor to the NEW North B2B Magazine, and actively consult on marketing for the Kewaunee County Economic Development Corporation.
• I’m dependable.  Seventy-five percent of my clients have been with me for 12 years or longer (two for nearly 25 years).
• I generate results.  On average, when objectives are clearly defined, my clients enjoy, on average, a 10-to-1 return on the value of my services in the first year.  (Example:  If our project together costs you $10,000, you can anticipate a $100,000 improvement in business.) 
• I know business.  As an entrepreneur and business owner since 1985, I understand both the number crunching side of business as well as the gut-level aspects of what makes a business work. 
• I talk the talk AND walk the walk.  Known in some circles as “The Voice of the Small-Business Owner,” I am also the founder of The Freestyle Entrepreneur (www.thefreestyleentrepreneur.com), a web-based business that promotes the interests of small-business owners and is designed for “those of us crazy enough to work for ourselves.”

I help my clients increase their sales and boost their profits by …    

• Helping them identify, capitalize on, and profit from their unique competitive advantage.
• Custom marketing & public relations campaigns to identify markets, broaden market awareness and create a clear, focused “branding” image (including image building through press releases, and radio air-time).  
• Developing and implementing skills training, customer service and other programs to train new hires and improve the productivity of current employees.
• Helping clients enhance the effectiveness of their customer communications, including making their newsletters and websites more relevant and inviting to customers. 

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John R. Ingrisano  

Custom Communications  

204 Lakeview Drive  

Algoma, WI 54201  

(920) 559-3722  

john@TheFreestyleEntrepreneur.com  

   

    

What I Do … and What I Can Do for You!   

  

     

If your business needs a boost in productivity and profits, or an image makeover, I just might be able to help. It costs you nothing to talk about what you need and what I can do.   

     

Some of what I can do for you…   

• Marketing planning, creation and implementation.
• Publicity & Promotion  — from creating and posting flights of attention-grabbing press releases and announcements for print, media and online distribution to advertising campaigns and media buys.
• Branding — creating a distinct image and culture that helps your business stand out from the crowd … and making sure your markets get the word.
• Profit-centered Business Analysis — helping your business identify where resources can be better utilized and applied so you get the best value for your expenditures and staff allocations.
• Customer Service Training — teaching your staff how to double your repeat-buyer rate.
• Website Review & Analysis — Assessing how effective your website is in (a) presenting your brand image; (b) telling your story; and (c) attracting traffic.