Our inaugural small business conference kicked off Small Business Month in Toronto, bringing together Canada's top entrepreneurial talent in one room.
Mitch Joel author of "Ctrl Alt Delete - Reboot Your Small Business, Your Future Depends On It," opened the conference with a talk on the power of direct relationships.
Own the relationship with your customers before your competitor does. #theartof @mitchjoel
Bestselling author and founder of The Good Life Project, Jonathan Fields followed Joel with his advice on how to strongly emerge from the pains of building a business:
It's easier to build a business based on alleviating pain than celebrating a delight. (via @jonathanfields) #TheArtOf
W. Brett Wilson, star of CBC TV's "Dragons' Den" then took the stage at The Art of Small Business conference and shared his story on how he redefined success after loosing the two things that mattered most to him - his family and his health.
"Success is about the size of your smile, not the size of your wallet." @WBrettWilson #GoodBusy #TheArtOf
Our Executive Panel was next to follow with top-level executives that included: Rob Nicholson, head of Commercial Solutions at Visa Canada; Sunil Mistry, Partner at KPMG Enterprise; Paul Gaspar, Director of Small Business Segment at UPS Canada; DJ Kennedy, Founder and CEO of TechWyse Internet Marketing.
Joining us for our Exec Panel at #TheArtOf: Rob Nicholson @VisaBiz_CA, Sunil Mistry @KPMG_Canada, @UPS_SmallBiz, @Dj_kennedy @TechWyse
The innovative Stephen Shapiro was next to take the stage explaining how better defining your challenges will help you ask better questions giving you the best answers.
When crowdsourcing, remember to ask the right question the right way to the right people. -@stephenshapiro #GoodBusy #TheArtOf
Author of "How to Build a Turn-key Marketing System," John Jantsch was next up to cover molding strategy before tactics and how this will generate future success.
70% of clients have done the research and made their purchasing decision BEFORE contacting a business @ducttape #theartof
Lastly, Michael E. Gerber author of, "Turning Your Biggest Problem Into Your Biggest Opportunity," took the stage at The Art of Small Business explaining how you can transform your relationship with your business and your life.
"Forget about it and let it go to work" @MichaelEGerber at #TheArtOf
Of course it wasn't long before #TheArtOf hashtag trended Canada-wide! Engagement from attendees held strong throughout the day, with people tweeting their favourite lessons and moments throughout the day:
#theartof is now trending in Canada http://t.co/oLlm55D5s6
To see photos from our event, visit our Facebook page:
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