Effective sales materials a matter of good design

Many business owners and employees try at some point in their careers to design a newsletter, flyer or other sales materials — and then wonder why their versions aren’t as graphically appealing as others. There are a few simple tricks when you’re designing your own material that will make all the difference in the appeal […]

Do you promote the power of caring?

The primary ingredient in building relationships and delivering an exceptional customer service experience is caring. The more you and your team care, the more satisfied your customers will be. They will look to your company more often for the products, services and solutions they need and want. These same customers will also refer more business […]

Arms race heats up with warmer weather on the way

It’s that time again when we start packing up the winter coats and pulling out the summer wear. It’s always a little scary putting on those shorts or tank tops for the first time. How did your body fare through the winter? Last month, I focused on abdominal muscles, what makes up the ab region […]

Prepare yourself to make the most of networking events

Networking events are of little value if you’re not prepared. Here are five things to keep you on task at any business networking event — as adapted from “The Ten Commandments of any Business Networking Mixer” in “The World’s Best Known Marketing Secret” by Ivan Misner. Make your badge count. A large part of your […]

Are you teaching your team members to think?

Your business is only as strong as the individual team members operating within it. For your company to operate at the highest levels, your team members must be taught, and then continually encouraged, to think for themselves rather than relying on you or others for answers or even guessing at a solution. A client of […]

Is the “new normal” actually that normal?

Someone asked me the other day if I’m still in the “double-dip” (recession) camp. That led to an embarrassing confession that while I once believed higher interest rates would choke off the nascent recovery, the current recovery has lasted long enough and remained strong enough that I think those of us who were double-dippers ought […]

Leasing opportunities abound in Grand Valley

Grand Junction office rentals remain steady despite a downward national trend. Vacancy rates for office space in the Grand Junction area range from 5 percent to 8 percent, according to the results of a survey conducted by the City of Grand Junction. Meanwhile, vacancy rates range from 10 percent to 15 percent in some major metropolitan […]

Marketing about consolidation, not exclusion

The first day of marketing class, the first 10 minutes, the professor explains the importance of a target market. And yet, in general, I would easily say three quarters of the businesses that hire me to work with them don’t have a firm target market lined out for the campaign when we begin our work. […]

Trimming tax liability could be a matter of survival

Remember when the junk hit the fan back in 2008? Everyone and his dog was yelling about the imminent economic collapse. Three years later, a lot has certainly occurred: bailouts, unemployment, housing slump, business failures, you name it. If it was bad, it probably happened. But, pretty much unreported, something amazing happened during the same […]