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Think you know all there is to know about LinkedIn? Even expert users can squeeze out more productivity and sales with LinkedIns ready-made tools

Here are four things you can do now to increase the value of your business-and give you a smoother transition out when the time is right. As entrepreneurs we are constantly putting out fires, prioritizing and re-prioritizing our most urgent tasks, and changing our schedules so rapidly that committing to lunch with an old friend next week brings a certain sense of anxiety. We run our businesses to achieve our mission and earn a profit.

Like the Broncos signing Peyton Manning, getting the right person in the right role at the right time is key to the success of any organization. For football fans everywhere, but especially in Denver, the last two weeks have been a suspenseful ones. With Peyton Manning jetting around the country to be courted by general managers, coaches and potential teammates, all those in Broncos Country were keeping up with every article, post and tweet about what the future might hold for their team.

How to keep quiet politeness from killing your sales, marketing and probably your business. I’ll admit it. I'm not a particularly nice person.

Great strategic thinkers have a gift for seeing threats and opportunities before anyone else.

Tired of success stories? Every Friday on Inc.com we bring you epic tales of failure and shame. Up this week: Awkward hiring situations.

How motivated are your workers? We asked 15 successful young entrepreneurs to share secrets to sparking happiness and company loyalty around the office.

Strategies every start-up and small business can take from Apple, Facebook, Google, and other leaders in high tech. Looking to model your startup or small business after the tech industry's titans? It's not just about cutting-edge technology

"For better or worse, the word 'innovation' has come to represent so much that it seems to have lost most of its meaning," says Noah Brier, cofounder of Percolate , a company that helps brands create content on a social scale. So a few years ago, Brier decided to read some of the early writings of Josef Schumpter, the first person to really talk about innovation in the field. "Reading his stuff really opened my eyes, as he had a very specific definition of innovation: The commercialization of an invention," says Brier.

If you don't have empathy for the loan officer sitting across from you, you won't understand how to get the funding you need. Empathy is an essential characteristic of a successful business owner. In all aspects of business development—whether is customer relations, labor management, or seeking a strategic new business partnership—assuming the viewpoint of the person across from you is an invaluable practice

I don't believe business owners should be responsible for health care in the first place. But since we are, we can make an impact on policy in the way we use it

These trends could make for huge opportunities--or huge disruptions to your business. Either way, they are ones to watch

Everything you need to know to become a successful entrepreneur is in these six essential books. Few of us are born knowing everything it takes to be an entrepreneur. You may have the spirit, the personality, the drive, but often we still need to learn the tricks of the trade in order to become truly successful

Before investing heavily in a new line of business, its important to identify customers who can help you learn quickly about what works and what needs tweaking. Investing in a new line of business requires some basic steps, including identifying the target customer and building a robust customer pipeline . Building the pipeline, however, is not enough–you also want to prioritize that list of potential customers.

I can't code, but I can run a software company. You can too