Kickstart from the heart

The crowdfunding craze saw 19% of the $16.2 billion raised in 2014 going to socially conscious causes. If you’re in the biz to do good things rather than boost your bottom line, then this guide accompanied by a funky infographic will help you generate funds from people with big hearts. It might just be what you need to kickstart your campaign into gear.

Something’s fishy

Whether you’re a minnow in a sea of sharks or a giant blue whale in a small pond, the launch of a new app usually comes with a huge spike in interest followed by sudden apathy. In fact, more than three-quarters of users tune out within the first three days of installing a new app, according to adtech whiz Andrew Chen. He offers sage advice for user retention: get your hooks in while they’re fresh.

CSI: Your startup

The best entrepreneurs are the ones who have failed and failed again, rather than those who saw success from the get-go. It’s because they’ve sharpened their business-management skills with years of positive and negative experiences. If your startup fell flat on its face and you’re left scratching your head, an effective postmortem will help you plan better the next time around.

Phoning it in

Many have lamented the death of real social interaction as an unfortunate side effect of social media technology and more. The reports may be greatly exaggerated, though. A new study finds that phone calls represent as much as half of the inquiries leading to purchase, compared with just 2% of sales coming from clicks. Here’s how to boost your ROI by encouraging potential customers to pick up the phone.

Coffee is for closers

“The leads are weak!” bemoaned salesman Shelley Levene in Glengarry Glen Ross. If Levene lived in this day and age, he could easily strengthen his leads and boost his conversion rates with these five lead-generation programs.

Until next week, remember to Always Be Closing and that second prize is a set of steak knives…