One of the most common marketing mistakes I see is focusing solely on new clients and doing so in a way that annoys everyone else who has (or had) a relationship with your business. This quote from Facebook (above) about a New England newspaper’s Groupon deal is but one example. The process The process goes […]

Habits – at least the good ones – tend to help us get big things done that we might otherwise never accomplish. One of the things I do every day is read a page from “The Daily Drucker“. The Daily Drucker is a 366 page book of one-page-per-day excerpts from Peter Drucker’s books on business, […]

What if you could leap tall buildings, throw balls of fire or swing from webbing that shoots out of your wrist? If you could, lots of people would think you were some sort of superhero. Thing is, a fair number of people probably feel that way already. Maybe you can’t do any of those things, […]

Professional development mentors remind us that we must take care of ourselves first. They advise that we improve ourselves mentally, physically and emotionally – in other words, attend first to our overall health – so that we’re better prepared to perform well in our roles at work, at home and in our community. Personal finance […]

Print readers, see flatheadbeacon.com/images/uploads/SpaghettiOsPearlHarbor.png When I say “calendar marketing”, I’m talking about using the context of historical events and dates, holidays and current events to spice up your marketing. Done right, you can briefly tie what you do to the event, date or holiday, have a little fun and perhaps get the attention those about […]

Quite often, I talk with business owners about thinking ahead. Something happened Thanksgiving weekend that tells me that I need to change my terminology to “Doing ahead.” Why the change? Primarily, I’m concerned that small businesses are thinking ahead, but stopping there. Thinking ahead discussions often include strategic thoughts of putting yourself out of business […]

This past weekend, I checked off two to-do list items with one coffee stop. First, I was looking for a good place to sit, sip and write. Second, I was meeting with the founder of a @StartupWeekend-born startup to discuss how it would go forward. I got more than I expected. It started off with […]

How do customers and prospects look at you vs. others in your industry? For example: What are your competitors best known for? Why do customers choose them rather than everyone else in your industry – including you? How does your competition’s “best known” thing compare to what you’re best known for? Why do customers choose […]

Recently, a couple of real estate transactions provoked me to write about surprises. In that piece, surprises were not a good thing. Yet sometimes, surprises are exactly what you want to deliver. So how do you decide which surprises are good and which aren’t? You need to find a difference to choose a good one […]

Frustrated with the rate of change or accomplishment of new work in your business? I had a conversation recently that might help. Ann: Sometimes I think some of us are un-coachable. Mark: Reminds me of “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” It’s huge for those who teach and/or coach – you have […]

One of the things I notice while working with clients (and being one) is that some of us are pretty good at making things hard on our customers. Hard on customers? You might be. Let’s clean up a few things so you can make it easier on them (and easier to keep them as clients). […]

A while back, a friend sent me a link to an old blog post called “30 things to stop doing to yourself“. It struck me that while the list was intended for application in your personal life, the list could also be applied to your business – with a tweak or two. Rather than talking […]

Dan Kennedy is known to say something to the effect of “If I wake up at 2:00 am thinking about you or your business, you’re in trouble.” I can relate. For me, the “are you worth it?” measuring stick is often drama-related. Drama happens. It’s part of life. On the other hand, if you intentionally […]

What does being professional mean to you? To some, it means “Not being an amateur”. So how does the public differentiate amateurs from professionals? In some circles, money is the key. Amateurs don’t get paid, professionals do. For example, an amateur golfer typically isn’t eligible for prize money in tournaments. Once they decide to go […]

Last time, we discussed the often forgotten reason for showrooming that happens after price shopping: convenience and time/fuel savings. Remember Kübler-Ross’ five stages of grief? If you’ve forgotten, they are denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. When applied to showrooming, it isn’t much different. Acceptance and the clarity that accompanies it are where the sales […]