On a weekly basis, I find myself chatting with someone who wants me to help them find a way to differentiate their business from their competitors. That’s a good thing, but it really isn’t what they’re really after. The reality is that these folks want me to suggest a thing or two about the products […]

While a fair portion of the media (and yeah, I get the irony of saying that) seems intent on talking about nothing but bad economic news, there are good things happening out there as well and they deserve equal time. For example, I’ve been encouraged to see the Beacon spending more time covering stories about […]

With all the talk about layoffs and shutdowns in the valley, you have to wonder where the new businesses are going to pop up. These folks have to go somewhere. Many can’t afford to wait for the economy to turn. More on that shortly. I’ve always been amazed that a large company can lay off […]

English really is my native tongue. So what do I mean about moving furniture? Moving furniture = getting things done. Everyone wants to get more done – or maybe get the same amount of stuff done in less time. Clients ask me about this all the time, but they don’t talk about end tables. Normally, […]

That is, I’m stimulated by H.R. 1, the warmly and fuzzily named “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009”, which doesn’t appear to impress the Wall Street Journal. At first glance, my thought was that if Phyllis Diller was a House bill, she’d be H.R. 1 (For those who don’t know Ms. Diller, she’s had […]

Not long ago, I was in a box store in Kalispell, sauntering by an iPod Touch, almost on a whim. For those who read my Buy Local pitch a few weeks ago, no one in Columbia Falls carries the item I needed. Last year, we talked about the productivity that a custom iPhone application could […]

One of the questions I often hear from clients is “Where do I get ideas for new products and services?” Of course, the most obvious place would be “Your customers”, but sometimes it isn’t quite that simple. Customers are a valuable source of feedback in this area, but they aren’t perfect. If every business waited […]

For months, my youngest boy has been saving up for new skis. In an instant gratification world, it’s nice to watch a kid save for something he really wants. With over 5 feet of snow hitting the mountain in the last week, the timing was perfect to pick them up this past weekend. Saturday was […]

Last week, we talked about building a laundry list of things for each functional area of your business, so this week, we’re going to add to it (you knew that was coming, right?) A little advice about last week’s laundry list: Stick to it. Make the business of fine tuning your business into a part […]

Whether your business had its best year ever (and some did) or its worst, tomorrow brings the start of a new year. What are you going to do about it? With that in the back of your mind, let’s make a couple of lists and see what floats to the top. First, start with what […]

Myers Reece’s story last week about the Northwest Montana Association of Realtors (NMAR) hiring a Governmental Affairs Director set off a colorful discussion about the evils of Realtors in the story’s online comments area. Unfortunately, that colorful discussion missed the most important point brought up by Myers’ story: that small business owners must be vigilant […]

From time to time, I hear complaints about Kalispell’s “awful” traffic, even though Kalispell’s rush hour is thankfully more like a rush five minutes. Heavy traffic is a very good thing if you’re a retailer or restaurant owner. Traffic is what Wal-Mart brings. There’s been lot of talk about the new Wal-Mart Supercenter at Hutton […]

Normally this could wait until my next column’s deadline, but with so many small business owners in Montana making and selling handmade items for kids – it can’t wait another minute. If you sell or make handmade toys, clothing, backpacks or certain other children’s items, it’s possible that you will be out of business as […]

I’m not madly in love with their mailbox. Really, I’m not. You’ll see. Last week, my comments about direct mail mistakes were far from complete. We could discuss that stuff for days, maybe longer. None of us have time to do that, but I do feel obligated to elaborate a bit. Stamps vs. Indicia While […]

It’s easy to waste a lot of money by making a few simple mistakes when sending direct mail. Here are five common mistakes that are particularly costly: Using pre-printed postage (indicia) instead of real stamps The first goal for anything you mail to someone is to get it opened. Not read. Not replied to. Opened. […]