The Buck Stops Where…

Saturday, April 4th, 2009
Responsibility I've made a lot of mistakes in business over the years. Most were pretty minor... but several were... let's just say, significant learning experiences. One of the biggest was that as we grew... and we added staff... there was a period of time where I allowed certain details to get away. After all, I had people who could handle those things now... so I moved down the hall. Previously, I had my office right up front... in the mix.Read More

Your Best Customers… Part II

Wednesday, February 4th, 2009
Best Customers In the spirit of yesterday's article, I thought I would do a little unscientific test today. So I spoke with three random people (I said it was unscientific), and asked them to identify the attributes of an ideal client. Two listed some basic demographics like the annual revenue of the company, industry sector, number of employees, etc. The other…  
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No Thanks, I’m Just… Researching.

Sunday, December 28th, 2008
Downtown Las Vegas As we're out and about, going from store to store... the same two-sentence conversations are happening everywhere. The question is familiar to all of us, "Can I help you?"... as is the response, "No thanks... I'm just browsing." I recently noticed that I seem to be giving that answer more and more these days, but alas... I must now admit that it is not really true. You see, it may be just me, but the fact is that if I am…  
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‘Tis The Season…

Saturday, December 27th, 2008
Warp Speed Mr. Kringle Seasons are important. Many small businesses do half their annual volume during 'their' season, whenever that is, and however long it lasts. If you are involved in retailing... web-based or traditional, the last six weeks may have been your season. If you are an accountant, your season begins next month. Tourism, sports, construction, and recreation all have seasons, as do all of the businesses that support them. Even churches…  
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Do You Know Your ABC’s…? Part III

Monday, December 22nd, 2008
C is for Cars One of the most common frustrations I hear from small business owners is that their employees just don't treat the business with the same degree of care that the owners do. These concerns generally come from one of two areas... finance or marketing, and are often expressed by statements like: "I can't believe they did, or said, that... couldn't they see how that would affect the customer... isn't it obvious what the right course of action should…  
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Do You Know Your ABC’s…? Part I

Saturday, December 20th, 2008
A is for Apple In yesterday's post, we discussed the great ability that we have as small business owners and marketers to differentiate ourselves from our competitors. This is true for both product and service businesses. If we are involved in the manufacture or distribution of a physical product, then according to conventional wisdom, the product's quality…  
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What’s the difference…?

Friday, December 19th, 2008
Knit Okay..., so how different is one drycleaner or laundromat from another? Or one mega-grocery chain store from its closest compeitor? What about one branch or another at the county library, or one discount retailer from the one across the street? The same can be said for many hotels, churches, accounting fims, banks, and... just about anyone else. In terms of product or service, there is often very little difference. In terms of experience, however, ...the sky's…  
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And If The Competition Jumped In The Lake…?

Friday, November 21st, 2008
Bow Wash "But Mom... everyone else gets to go! Bobby gets to go!!!"

"And if Bobby jumped in the lake... would you jump in too?"
my mother calmly asked.

I hated that question... but looking back, it was probably good advice. Just replace the "jumped in the lake" part with any number of activities that were sure to lead to trouble.

In fact, as I think about it today... Mom's old adage is probably good advice for marketers as well.

You…  
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What’s Your Story?

Monday, November 17th, 2008
So, how often would you advertise if it cost you next to nothing?

Or would you prefer PR releases for the same price? Okay, you got it... Imagine this...

The editors of the New York Times, the USA Today, and the WSJ just called and left messages... too bad you were out.

Time, Newsweek, and The Economist will be calling tomorrow, and CNN Money and Fox Business the day after that. They all have the same offer for you.

Unlimited face-time for you…  
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