Most business startups are created to take advantage of some kind of benefit or need the founders have identified in the market. They see a problem, create a way to offer a solution and — presto — a business is born. Customers are so happy to have their problems solved they pay a healthy price […]
Small to medium-sized businesses need every advantage possible to remain competitive in a shrinking economy. As consumers spend less and less, business owners must spend their marketing dollars more wisely than ever to retain current customers and bring new ones through the doors. Business owners who take advantage of text message marketing often enjoy a […]
The word “green” gets thrown around a lot these days, but few try to define it and fewer still actually do anything about it. Here’s my rather simple definition: Green means being responsible with what we have and with the place we live. If we each do what we can, it will make a huge […]
Albert Einstein once said: “Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its whole life believing it’s stupid.” Henry Ford once said: “Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” When it comes to business networking, many feel […]
Creating “buzz” about a business poses a challenge owners can’t escape. Rarely does such word-of-mouth promotion just happen. But when it does, it’s amazingly effective. Most businesses must create their own buzz and word-of-mouth excitement. It takes strategy, quite a bit of creativity and usually involves giving something away. This is where pseudo events come […]
The English poet Thomas Gray wrote, “Where ignorance is bliss, ’tis folly to be wise.” Over the years, this quote has been abbreviated to the more simplistic “ignorance is bliss.” Many times in our lives we believe that saying holds merit —the number of calories in that chocolate truffle you just ate or how much […]
What does commercial real estate have to do with jobs? Good question. But it might be more appropriate to ask what comes first, a strong real estate economy (both residential and commercial) or jobs that require builders and contractors to construct homes and buildings to house workers and businesses? Its the jobs. Obviously, it’s business […]
There are so many different ways to obtain information about fitness these days. From Facebook to gaming systems and fitness videos to personal trainers, there’s a flood of new information seemingly every day. As a consumer, it can be difficult to decide where to turn for information that will be most beneficial to you while […]
In my last column I suggested 10 ways to build your business network. As a reminder, those 10 areas are active listening to telephone conversations, never eating alone, using staff meetings, working your network, joining service organizations, educating yourself, offering special thanks to referral sources, using social media, effective conversation and proper planning. Active listening […]
Several people have asked me why the media circus du jour concerns about the U.S. debt crisis don’t seem to bother me as much as the Washington, D.C., policy wonks think it should. First, the market doesn’t seem to care much about the latest attempt at political grandstanding. If the market were worried about the […]