Someone mentioned to me privately that if he didn’t know better, he’d think I was trying to put a guilt trip on folks with my column “Waiting, Whining or Working. Your choice”. He went on to say that he figured my point really was that every one who has been used to competing locally has […]

If you simplify it, competitive behavior has two sides: those who do and those who don’t. As I promised last week, here are some additional thoughts about what “other people do”. While Pittsburgh, Tokyo, Mumbai and Guangzhou were investing in internet and manufacturing infrastructure… Did you think your infrastructure was “good enough”? Did you think […]

That’s nationally-known business advisor and author Tom Peters. Give him two minutes. The quote from Friedman is definitely worth it. If you’re reading this in the print edition, please visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOxxBvmpbZU& to view a short two minute clip. Initially, Peters talks about teenagers when referring to a quote from NY Times writer and author Thomas […]

A combination of recent events has had me thinking more about the expectations we have for ourselves, our kids, our employees and holy moly, even our politicians. First, Jim Rohn passed away a few weeks ago. That loss got it started. Jim talked a lot about expectations and how delivery of them is on one […]

Ever see the pilots in an airliner reading checklists or looking over what seems like mundane items? We expect two wings and the proper number of engines to be present. Pilots have a checklist. Despite having thousands or perhaps tens of thousands of hours of flying experience, pilots can’t afford to forget what might seem […]

Recently I received an email from a friend that asked a simple question: “We’re looking for ways to get the word out nationally on (our stuff). When you Google (keywords that they think are important), nothing about (our stuff) comes up. Do you have some suggestions?” Sometimes a one sentence question with a two sentence […]

I don’t mean the Chinese New Year, the Jewish New Year or the new Federal fiscal year. I’m talking about the regular old New Year that happens on January first. Business-wise, are you ready for it? Or will you start getting ready for it on January second? If your business is struggling, I suggest you […]

Your SD5 education tax dollars were well spent last week. Remember the Beacon story that talked about Kalispell School District 5’s failed levy? Just in case you missed it, here’s the reason why your tax dollars were well invested: “Such a request had never failed before, so School District No. 5 didn’t spend any money […]

Ever have one of those vendors that supplies something that is so amazing that you can’t cure yourself of them? I deal with one of those in the software side of my world. And of course, their customer service is nowhere near ideal. They rarely communicate with their clients. They do a few things that […]

Sometimes I really wonder about where people get their competitive spirit. Or for that matter, why they’re in business at all. They don’t seem to have any sort of competitive edge about them when it comes to business, but these same folks would put a hotel on Boardwalk if given the chance. “It’s just a […]

Ahh, Kermit the Frog. You were wise beyond your years when you said, “It’s not easy being green.” It isn’t even easy talking about green, but we’re going to do it anyhow. Everywhere you turn, people talk about being green and going green. Quite often, it results in a number of people seeing red. Some […]

Ever sat at a stoplight facing uphill behind a big 18 wheeler? Notice how long it takes for that big ol’ thing to get moving? Sometimes it seems like forever until it gets up to cruising speed. That’s the burden of inertia. What about that 747 headed to Australia or Beijing or Rio? It takes […]

There’s a guy who sells a boring product here in the Flathead. If he’s your client, you don’t think of him or his product as boring. Despite selling a boring product that all businesses need but don’t really want, he makes it a point to keep his eye on the niches his clients do business […]

Last week we talked about my Columbia Falls talk about mobile technology and how it should affect internet strategy. Well, I left something out. Intentionally. Thing is, it was important enough that we could have talked for the rest of the day about it, even though it was somewhat off topic for the presentation. Kinda. […]

Last week I spoke with business owners in Columbia Falls about the impact of mobile technology on their businesses. Tourists have lots of resources: the Internet, stuff they were mailed, travel guides, etc. Once they get here, many of them use their phone. Canyon Campground owner Dee Brown told me that not long ago, many […]