Buddy Longen owned a Bruegger's Bagels franchise for more than a decade before partnering with Adam Williamson to open My Buddy's Bakery in Hudson, Wis. The shop's offerings include New York-style bagels, pastries and gluten-free options.

Websites must be attractive to be effective marketing tools, but they also need to clearly direct visitors toward the next step in the purchasing process, writes Syed Balkhi. To achieve this, make sure it's easy for visitors to contact you from the website, include social proof of the quality of your products and place a strong call to action on key pages.

Molly Rigatti provides a nine-step guide to nurturing leads, starting by understanding prospects' stage in the buying cycle and targeting messaging based on personas. Identify campaign goals, create a content map and be intentional with messaging, she recommends.

Some of the best potential leaders in your organization could be the quiet ones, those who lack confidence or those who appear disorganized but just need training and coaching to become executive material, writes Joel Garfinkle. "Don't seek new talent until you've invested in the underutilized members of your existing team," he writes.

Several strategies can help you manage costs while running an e-commerce business, including using drop shipping and partnering with micro-influencers, writes Manish Dudharejia.

Tax season is over, so it's time to think about taxes -- for next year's bill. Gene Marks recommends six ways to minimize what you'll pay in 2019, beginning with capital items you may need to buy.

Creating an informative video series on YouTube can help you to establish credibility and attract new followers. Meredith Marsh shares a process for creating a video series that starts with doing relevant research.