The three-legged stool of business

How is a business like a three-legged stool? Glad you asked!

BUSINESS MARKETING: It's innovation season

Many things in our lives make us constantly aware of the seasons – seasonal holidays, the beginning of the baseball season, hay fever season, and “Innovation Season.”

ESTATE PLANNING: If you are the leader, then lead

No matter whether you are the CEO of a large corporation, a mid-level supervisor or someone in their first position managing a small team, you have to lead others. T

BUSINESS MARKETING: Follow-up is the No. 1 networking skill

If you are in a business where personal relationships are important, there is nothing like networking to increase your pool of prospects.

BUSINESS MARKETING: What will your legacy be?

It has been my habit for years that when I come across some snippet of information that interests me, I copy it, snip it out, highlight the important part, and stick it in a folder where it resides – a reminder of something that I might want to remember in the future.

BUSINESS MARKETING: Diamond in the rough?

I often think a diamond is a good analogy for a business. Just as there are no perfect diamonds, there are no perfect businesses.

BUSINESS MARKETING: The mini-meeting for maxi-performance

Business is complex. Customers, staff members, vendors, and stakeholders all have wants and needs that need to be satisfied.

BUSINESS MARKETING: The bedtime story presentation

One of the joys of being a parent (and now a grandparent) is telling bedtime stories.

BUSINESS MARKETING: 'Just the facts' informs but doesn’t sell

Back in the old days of black and white television, an iconic and hugely popular show was “Dragnet."

BUSINESS MARKEING: What’s the new normal?

I don’t know about you, but I’ve observed that things just are not normal lately.

BUSINESS MARKETING: Are you a businessperson? Really?

Since I have worked with businesspeople all my career, as part of my normal activities I meet many people who own businesses.

BUSINESS MARKETING: The demise of the Pony Express … redux

In the past two decades, technology has changed our culture at an ever-increasing rate. The announcement the U.S. Postal Service will eliminate Saturday mail delivery, while no surprise, is one more indication of this transformation into a more digital existence. But this transformation isn’…

CONSUMER AFFAIRS: Don’t be the 'best kept secret'

The philosophical question, “If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” has been stumping people and causing discussion since it was first asked more than 300 years ago.

BUSINESS MARKETING: Management lessons learned from watching football

This time of year it seems a majority of people I talk to have football on the brain.

BUSINESS MARKETING: Customer loyalty is a myth

A bedtime parable:

BUSINESS MARKETING: The successful family business - vision, expectations, roles

I’ve seen family business on all points of the “functional-dysfunctional spectrum.”

BUSINESS MARKETING: More on the family business

After last week’s column (“The family business – functional or not?) I was surprised at the unusual number of emails I received from readers with stories of well functioning and badly functioning family businesses.

BUSINESS MARKETING: Snap! Crackle! & Pop! versus soggy shredded wheat?

I remember as a youngster being delighted at breakfast when I poured milk over a bowl of Rice Krispies, listening to those thrilling snaps, crackles and pops as the little kernels burst with sound.

BUSINESS MARKETING: Take advantage of your competitive advantages!

Does your business have competitive advantages? Of course you do. Your competitive advantages are the reasons why people choose to buy your products and services instead of buying from your competitors.

BUSINESS MARKETING: Promises, delivery and managing expectations

No matter what business you are in, no matter whether you sell products, services or both, no matter where you are or who your customers are, there are two sides to every transaction: the promise and the delivery.

BUSINESS MARKETING: Prioritization paradigm

Out of curiosity I’ve recently I’ve been asking people what their current business priorities are.

BUSINESS MARKETING: Make notes now, act on them later

For many businesses, this next month is the busiest time of the year. There is plenty of opportunity, activity and stress.

BUSINESS MARKETING: Marketing parasites getting gobbled up

If you are anything like me, you are receiving tons of marketing right now.

BUSINESS MARKETING: Election is over; get back to work now

For the past year or so, the entire country has been either enthralled or appalled by the election.

BUSINESS MARKETING: Are you presidential? How about professional?

As the election is drawing to a close and the candidates are flying all over the nation to attempt to win every last possible vote, I feel like most people I talk to.

BUSINESS MARKETING: Success without process? You’re lucky

Every so often I come across a business enjoying huge sales success without a process to sustain it.

CONSUMER AFFAIRS: The system for Continual Improvement

This is a one-question test:

BUSINESS MARKETING: Who was that masked man?

Back in the days of radio and black-and-white TV, one of the most popular shows among youngsters was “The Lone Ranger.”

BUSINESS MARKETING: The compelling case for audacious goals

I think we all can agree goal setting and goal achievement are good things. Most of us probably are working on multiple goals all the time.

BUSINESS MARKETING: Wake up the 'sleepworkers'

Sleepworkers! They are everywhere. They are annoying and they seem to make the whole company doze off.

BUSINESS MARKETING: Specialists specialize, generalists generalize

Last week I attended a chamber of commerce meeting and struck up a conversation with the person ahead of me in line for munchies.

BUSINESS MARKETING: Maximize your client

The doorbell rang and I heard retreating footsteps as I approached. There was a box sitting next to the door. It was an item I ordered two days ago from an internet vendor (I had called around locally to see if it was available but none of the local vendors was stocking this item. I opened the box.

BUSINESS MARKETING: The key to overcoming persistent problems

In every organization there are a few problems, errors, or breakdowns that occur repeatedly.

BUSINESS MARKETING: When they ask, they are giving permission

One of the best salespeople I’ve ever come in contact with is very far from the stereotypical assumption of the typical salesperson.

BUSINESS MARKETING: Are the Olympics like business?

Like a sizable part of the world’s population, I have been mesmerized by the spectacle that is the Olympics. I love watching them.

BUSINESS MARKETING: Prime the referral pump

“What is the best marketing strategy?”

BUSINESS MARKETING: Promises are one thing, follow-up is another

How many times has someone in a business made a promise to you by saying something like:

BUSINESS MARKETING - Successful marketing: clever or persistent?

One of the topics on the agenda at a roundtable discussion among business owners I attended was to divulge “clever” marketing strategies being used successfully. None of those at the event, surprisingly, had anything to offer. Silence.

BUSINESS MARKETING - Active attention brings repeat business

Years ago someone gave me a little plaque that says, “A Satisfied Customer Isn’t Good Enough!” I keep it on my desk.

BUSINESS MARKETING: Who or what is in charge in a purpose-driven company?

Businesses are managed by people. They might be owners or employees with the title of president or CEO who then report to the owners or a board of directors.

BUSINESS MARKETING: Regarding the possible

Last week I wrote about having, in the words of Google co–founder Larry Page, a mindset to "maintain a healthy disregard for the impossible."

BUSINESS MARKETING: Poor advertising methods won't garner business

Approaching my mailbox, I noticed a slip of paper sticking out.

BUSINESS MARKETING: Business lesson from Mama Duck

The other day I was driving past a small pond and stopped to watch a family of ducks (one adult and five chicks) waddling, all in an evenly spaced and orderly line, across the grass into the water where they went for a swim. None got out of line, none ventured out on its own, because of an o…

BUSINESS MARKETING: Nominate an innovator

Innovation – it's all around us. It is in the workplace, in health care, in government, in education, in nonprofits. It happens when people are curious or are working to create a better way to do something faster or cheaper or more helpful or more inclusive or all of the above.

BUSINESS MARKETING: Hope or request: which works better?

It warms a marketer's heart to hear a caller say, "you were referred to me by my friend." Receiving a referral is heartwarming for two reasons:

BUSINESS MARKETING: Culture is a circle

All businesses over time develop a culture. Some have an intentional, crafted and created culture. In others, the culture just happens organically. Some evolve as conditions change; others remain static. But realize that a company's culture is circular.

BUSINESS MARKETING: Hiring is passive; selection is active and better

Lately the economic news has indicated our economy is in a mild recovery from the depths of the recession.

BUSINESS MARKETING: Intend first, select second

For many years I've been talking about managing a business "by intention." By that I mean the person at the head of the business should actively define what they intend for that business to accomplish, then set goals and an appropriate series of action steps to accomplish what they intend.

BUSINESS MARKETING: Don't trash your company's image

So there I was, driving down a busy, major thoroughfare behind a van emblazoned with the logo and graphics of a well-known regional service company (name and industry withheld to protect the guilty), when the lunkhead driving the van threw the remains of his lunch out the window.

BUSINESS MARKETING: The importance of measurements

The mythical business broker Brad Beancounter analyzes businesses for sale to help establish a sales price. Naturally he reviews normal financial reports such as profit and loss statements, balance sheets, and cash flow reports, but he goes farther and deeper to discover what a given busines…