As winter settles into the Flathead and hunting season reaches its midpoint (OK, at least one of them has), almost every business is scanning the street for more customers. It’s particularly the case in markets that serve people’s hobby, pastime or even luxury items. Hunting, fishing and camping gear is one area that comes to […]

Plenty has been written over the last week or so about the Obama campaign’s use of technology and social media (much less a zillion other things). There will be more as information about the design of the internals of the campaign are revealed or discovered. Regardless of your politics, I suggest you read all of […]

One of the ways I find new businesses to help is by picking up brochure while I’m in their business, or when I see them around town. Brochures are your little sales dudes, sitting there on the counter, trying to get a date (generate interest enough to make a sale). They’re critical. They introduce your […]

There’s a lot of talk about change these days. No, this isn’t another tired political story. I’m a bit burned out on them too. Let’s talk about changing your business for the better. Many ideas for business change come from your clients. Another source is from events like TED. TED is an annual conference that […]

In last week’s column, I lightly admonished an anonymous bunch of folks for not personalizing their business (noting that the title of this column is “Business is Personal”). After that, it seems logical that I give you some tools to make it easier to do what I was complaining about last week. There are two […]

My birthday was earlier this month and as I do every year, I take great care to notice (and reward) those businesses who paid attention in the past when I brought it up, as well as those who already have my birth date and use it wisely. While not every business knows my birthday (or […]

Men, bear with me for a moment, this column is for you too. When marketing a product to women, there’s one thing you simply have to try to do if you want to hit a home run. Get yourself or your product on Oprah. The reason is simple and I hope, obvious: Oprah’s viewers trust […]

While the media is full of discussion, arguments and political posturing about the gazillion dollar bailout of the financial industry, no one is talking about the 27 million+ Main Street businesses that must survive on their own. Here are three strategies to help weather the storm swirling in Washington and New York, without spending a […]