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With a business strategy centered around sustainability, brands can attract consumers and increase their bottom lines. As sustainability becomes a prominent topic of discussion, environmentally conscious consumers are actively seeking out companies that align with their values. Because of this increasing concern for environmental issues among consumers, businesses are now recognizing the need to show their dedication to eco-friendly practices. Below, Rolling Stone Culture Council members share practical steps businesses can take to demonstrate their commitment to the environment and eco-friendly policies. From incorporating sustainable materials in their products to implementing energy-efficient measures in their operations, these efforts not only benefit the planet but also have a positive impact on their bottom line.

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What can we do to bridge the skill-capabilities gap and improve our employees’ educational experience in our companies?

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With Q1 behind them, business leaders can use Q2 as an opportunity to look ahead at what they want to achieve by mid-year. The second quarter of the year is a great time for business leaders to take stock of their progress and set goals for the months ahead. Whether you're looking to boost sales, improve operations or expand your team, it's important to have a plan in place to make the most of Q2. But where do you start? Below, Rolling Stone Culture Council members share their tips and strategies for starting Q2 off on the right foot. From assessing company performance to refining your business objectives, these insights can help you drive growth and achieve your goals.

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Resource planning can be challenging, but it's an important step for keeping your budget and operations on track. For new business leaders, it's important to have a clear and prioritized road map for the business’s future, as this will help guide your decisions each day. However, each initiative, project and task requires certain resources — such as staff, funding, equipment, tools and more. Determining how to allocate these resources effectively is key to ensuring your business has what it needs to accomplish your goals. That said, it’s important to regularly assess whether your resources are being used effectively and to make adjustments as needed to stay on track. To help you do this, the members of Rolling Stone Culture Council offer their best advice on how to tackle resource planning as a new business owner.

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Business inspiration can come from any number of places, and sometimes it's the last place you'd expect. When seeking inspiration, there are countless places you can turn to explore diverse perspectives and innovative ideas. For example, books, conferences or podcasts that cover topics both within and outside of your industry can provide fresh insights that can be applied to your own business challenges. Whether they're in a "rut" or just looking for new ideas to enhance their workflows, it's important for business leaders to find reliable sources of inspiration to guide them. Below, a panel of Rolling Stone Culture Council members explain where they turn to for help with creative problem-solving or creating new products in their businesses and how other leaders can follow suit.

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A true commitment to DEI requires more than hiring a diverse group of workers.  In recent years, many companies have made public commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the workplace. They've taken stock of their workforce, revamped their recruiting and hiring practices and worked to ensure their employees represent a wide range of backgrounds and life experiences. While making diverse hires is a good first step, that alone is not enough to show your workforce and the public that diversity, equity and inclusion are embedded in your company's values. Follow the advice of these Rolling Stone Culture Council members to ensure you are putting DEI into practice in every facet of your company culture and operations.

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Tackling that "post-holiday slump" head-on is the best way to keep your team's morale and productivity up all year long. During the holidays, it's easy for teams to get swept up in the cheer and overall positive mood of the season. However, as the new year begins and the festivities have wound down, you and your employees may experience a dip in energy. While 12 months of holiday spirit might not be feasible (or even desired), there are plenty of ways leaders can maintain their team's good mood and upward momentum year-round. To help, the members of Rolling Stone Culture Council offer eight strategies for keeping up team morale at the beginning of the year and beyond.

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With so many different people in any given industry, it's helpful to know how to identify the right individuals to network with. When you’re a business leader, connections that are made while networking can open doors to new opportunities and future collaborations. But knowing who to connect with and how to do so naturally can be a challenge, especially with so many potential ways to find and contact other professionals in your industry. To help you, a panel of Rolling Stone Culture Council experts share their top recommended strategies for how to find the right people to network with. Follow their advice so you can strategically make the right connections to help your business succeed.

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Before getting carried away with an exciting new idea, it's important to confirm it makes business sense to pursue it. The start of a new year is the perfect opportunity to take big risks and implement fresh ideas in your business. But the excitement of a new idea shouldn't distract from the need to confirm whether or not the idea is a viable one. Research must be conducted to determine whether the product will perform as well as anticipated in a given market and that consumers actually want or need what you’re offering them. To help get you started, 10 Rolling Stone Culture Council members share some important steps to help you and your team take an idea beyond the initial "excitement" phase.

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The end of the year is an ideal time to reflect on what you've learned and how you can apply it to your business moving forward. One of the most important aspects of an end-of-year review is assessing what went right and what went wrong for your business. Setting expectations for the following year based on those statistics helps ensure that your company continues to improve. Here, a panel of Rolling Stone Culture Council members share the most valuable lessons they learned over the past 12 months and the key takeaways they'll implement in their businesses in 2023.

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Artificial intelligence isn't out of reach for a small-business budget — you just need the right knowledge and strategies. Artificial intelligence (AI) is a technology that many people already use in their everyday lives, from facial recognition and social media filters to voice assistants. AI is also extremely beneficial to businesses, as it can save a lot of time and money while improving overall business decisions. Some AI-based business services can come at a high cost, but you don't have to break the bank to use this ever-evolving technology to its full business potential. Below, a panel of Rolling Stone Culture Council members share how small businesses with limited budgets can still leverage AI without hiring programmers or bothering with big data.

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There's a lot of commercial "noise" during the busy holiday season, but these strategies can help your business stand out. One of the most effective ways to draw customers to your online or brick-and-mortar retail store is to create promotions they will engage with. Tying those promotions into the holiday season can help you bring in even more customers and finish out the year on a high note. But with so many competing ad campaigns and discounts throughout the last few months of the year, you'll need to find a holiday initiative that will set your business apart from its competitors. Below, nine Rolling Stone Culture Council members share some holiday promotions that have worked for their teams and why your business might want to replicate them this season.

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True acceptance of basic work dynamics — be it via quitting, hiring, firing and everything in between — is a must.

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As the amount of e-commerce channels and online competitors increase, businesses must choose the right tactics to stand out. The e-commerce landscape has evolved rapidly in recent years as more and more "shoppable" digital platforms emerge. Instead of only being able to make online purchases on a company's website or Amazon page, consumers can also buy products directly through popular social media apps like Instagram or Facebook. Though there are more avenues than ever to get discovered by potential buyers, there may also be a smaller chance of getting noticed among a growing sea of competitors. To help businesses stand out, 10 Rolling Stone Culture Council members share their top tactics for getting the most online sales possible.

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Any employee who interfaces with customers should have the right skills to properly and effectively represent your brand. Hiring for any position is rarely an easy task, and it can be even more difficult when you're filling a customer-facing role. Not only does the person you hire need to be a match for your company culture, but they also need the right personality and skills to effectively represent your brand to the general public. Below, a panel of Rolling Stone Culture Council members share 10 specific skills or traits they look for when hiring for a customer-facing or public role, and explain why each of these qualities is so essential to an employee's success in this type of position.

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The way you respond to an online complaint can make or break your brand, so it's important to have a solid response strategy. Building an online presence across multiple social media platforms, websites and search engines is essential for any modern business. However, being a part of the digital realm also opens you up to online complaints from unhappy customers. It can be difficult to know how to handle a negative review in any environment, but with the added visibility online reviews have, the response you give will ultimately weaken or strengthen your reputation. To turn negative feedback into a positive brand experience, follow these tips from the members of Rolling Stone Culture Council. Below, they discuss what businesses should do when they find themselves on the receiving end of an online complaint.

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There are countless lifestyle brands on the market today, so you'll need the right elements to stand out as a memorable one. Lifestyle brands have become popular with celebrities, influencers and entrepreneurs alike, with platforms like Instagram or Facebook serving as their ideal place for sharing small snippets of their lives. Whether they’re centered around everyday life or an aspirational dream, these lifestyles form the basis for marketing a business’s products or services. But to make a lifestyle brand work, entrepreneurs need to develop a strategy with all the right components in place. To that end, 12 Rolling Stone Culture Council members share the ingredients entrepreneurs will need to craft a true lifestyle brand that will help them connect with their ideal audience.

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A diverse workforce doesn't happen accidentally — you need the right recruiting strategies to bring different types of candidates in the door. Over the years, the movement for increased diversity in the workplace has picked up significant momentum. Having a diverse team offers businesses a variety of perspectives, allowing for increased innovation and problem solving, while also increasing employee engagement and brand reputation. In most cases, building a pipeline of diverse job candidates requires intentional efforts at the recruitment level. To help you achieve this goal, eight members of Rolling Stone Culture Council share their best strategies to promote a broader range of candidates in your applicant pool.

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Many entrepreneurs are afraid of failing when they first start out, but it's possible to push past that fear and find success. Today, more people than ever are driven to create their own businesses. While the thought of being your own boss and creating something you love can be exhilarating, many entrepreneurs also experience that prickly feeling of fear when they actually launch. After all, the potential for failure is high in the early stages of a startup, and new businesses don't always make it past their first few years. Some people will fold under the pressure while others will rise to the challenge despite their fear. To help you ensure you're in the latter camp, 14 members of Rolling Stone Culture Council share how entrepreneurs can overcome the fear of failure and push forward.

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Staying autonomous as your business scales up requires a strong understanding of yourself and your mission — and trust in your team to carry out that mission. If you're an independent creator, you may be considering scaling your business. While scaling is a great way to increase your presence and profit, it also often requires bringing other people into the mix — a significant adjustment when you're accustomed to working independently. Fortunately, it is possible to grow your brand without losing sight of your original creative vision. To help, the members of Rolling Stone Culture Council share 11 tips to help you scale your business while still maintaining your autonomy.

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There’s still a significant challenge to tackle: including trans and nonbinary people in IT.

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If you're looking into affiliate marketing programs, make sure you understand these essential steps to success. By now, it’s likely that every social media user has seen YouTube stars, Instagram influencers and other popular content creators asking their followers to use their affiliate links when purchasing from a business. That's because an affiliate marketing program is an optimal way for businesses to usher in leads and make additional profit. With websites and a bountiful number of social media platforms, businesses can partner with influencers, celebrities and even other businesses to create a program that benefits all parties. However, this marketing strategy has to be approached the right way. Below, 11 members of Rolling Stone Culture Council share the tips they believe are key to a successful affiliate marketing program.

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There's always room for more creators and artists — you just have to know how to market yourself. With more social media platforms available than ever before, influencers, artists and content creators have multiple blank canvases ready for the taking. However, all these options may leave new creators unsure of where to begin with their brand promotion strategy. While it's easy to daydream about amassing hundreds of thousands of followers and "going viral" overnight, effectively growing your social media presence requires thoughtful planning and a strategic approach. To that end, 10 members of Rolling Stone Culture Council provide their best advice for new content creators who are ready to showcase and promote their brands on social media.

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A leader’s mindset can make a huge difference in how well a business succeeds during times of uncertainty. The business world can often feel like a roller coaster with unpredictable ups and downs. While it's easy for business leaders to stay positive during the good times, it can be harder to keep that same attitude when the going gets tough. Cultivating the right mindset can help leaders better navigate challenges and have a greater appreciation for the victories. If you're looking for a boost of positivity, the members of Rolling Stone Culture Council share their tried-and-true strategies for staying positive no matter the external circumstances.

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Before you hit that "go live" button, make sure you have a plan in place for a successful social media live stream. Whether it's on Instagram, Facebook or other social media platforms, live video content provides fun and welcome variation to your social media strategy. It allows for more connection between your brand and your customers, and may even introduce a new audience to your company. But there is an art to doing live videos well, and it's important to understand the basics before you start streaming. To help, a panel of Rolling Stone Culture Council members share their best practices for a successful social media live stream — from ensuring added value to advertising in advance — and how to adapt these practices to your own strategies.

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The key to differentiating yourself in the market is identifying and developing a strong brand identity. The way you position and identify your brand has a huge impact on the way you're perceived, from the business opportunities you’re offered to the type of customer who purchases your products or services. Developing this brand identity often begins by asking a series of introspective questions: What does your company stand for? What issues do you care about? What gap in the market do you fill? These are important questions to answer and reevaluate often as a business owner, but they're far from the only ways to conceptualize your brand. Below, 11 Rolling Stone Culture Council members offer their best advice for finding your brand's identity and explain why each step is so important.

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If innovation is your goal, you need creativity to flow freely throughout your organization. Industries that rely on constant innovation need leaders who are able to foster creativity among their teams. However, it can be difficult to feel creative all the time, especially in an office setting. Getting out of the office, meeting new people and sharing ideas with others are just a few ways that team members can find that creativity again. Below, 11 Rolling Stone Culture Council members share these strategies and more that have helped them effectively encourage creativity among their employees.

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Truthful feedback from your team — both positive and negative — is essential for continued growth as a business leader. Honest and transparent teams are likely to succeed for the simple fact that they value an open dialogue. If your team isn't on the same page about your plans, projects will suffer and the business may lose the momentum it needs for growth. This is why, as a business leader, it's critical to ensure you're receiving constructive and helpful feedback from your team. To help you make this a priority for both you and your business, 12 members of Rolling Stone Culture Council discuss their best tips for leaders.