Measuring marketing ROI
There’s nothing like the smell of a new business in the water to bring out all the marketing sharks. In the few months my business has been open we’ve been contacted by numerous radio stations, newspapers, magazines, phone directories, discount coupon websites, even a company that puts video ads in taxi cabs. Every one of [...]
Be ready for opportunities
As I mentioned in my previous post, when my business partners and I first opened our store we purposely did not try to do everything our competitors did. As part of our beginning analysis we looked at each of our competitors and evaluated ourselves against them. There were some things at which we knew we [...]
When to pull the plug on projects
At one point or another every business will try something new; a new product, a new service, a new process, a new marketing idea. If you don’t I suspect you’re not really growing as a business. And you’ve got your doors locked so no salesmen can come in. And you’re not listening to your customers, [...]
Howard Schultz and Starbucks’ customer focus
I recently listened to Darryl Campbell’s podcast interview with Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, on his new book Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul, in which Schultz discusses how he revitalized the sagging company even amid the recession. I found Schultz’ focus on rebuilding the company around its core values [...]
Jen Aniston’s viral video
I don’t usually link to the latest viral videos, but this one I will because it’s a) well done, b) rather amusing, and c) both mocking and elucidating the world of web marketing. “Going Viral” is what every web marketing campaign dreams of, and this one is accomplishing that by making fun of what elements [...]
Interview: William S. Scholes, DDS
I plan to conduct an ongoing project of interviewing business owners about how they got into their businesses and some of the problems they have encountered. For my first interview I spoke with William S. Scholes, DDS, of Scholes Family Dentistry in Boise. It occurred to me that while medical professionals may not go into [...]
Plan for visibility
My first “grown-up” job was for a company that designed accounting, inventory, and point-of-sale software for tire stores. We worked hard to make a package that gave business owners everything they needed to know how their business was doing. While we could design custom reporting for clients, we ensured our reporting and bookkeeping were complete [...]