Socialize much?
About That Million Dollar Idea
Recently, I’ve had several people pitch me what they term their “million dollar idea.” Of course, what they mean is their idea is so good that implementing it will make a million bucks. And, of course, being a startup guy, they’re hoping I’ll take the ball and run, make a million, and cut them in ...
When Failure Happens
A project I’ve been working on for the last two years came to an ubrupt halt this week. Major fail on my part. I’ve written in the past that failure happens and is even encouraged. Failure teaches us what not to do next time, what doesn’t work, how to succeed the next time around. That ...
Treat Customers Well When They’re Down
Have you ever heard the term “Fair Weather Fan”? Those are the sports fans who love a team when they’re up and turn on them when they’re down. Funny thing! You often see the same thing in business. My grandmother was a loyal JC Penney customer for decades. Once she was on an extended trip ...
Pricing Challenges
Setting a price for your products or services can be a real challenge for entrepreneurs. What’s a good price that will attract customers, but still deliver an attractive profit for the business? In past decades it wasn’t quite as much of a struggle. Businesses would frequently just use simple formulas. Cost plus x% for profit ...
Products That Wow
I love great products. I don’t mean products you want to tell people about, but products you HAVE to tell people about. I felt that way about the iPod Touch when I first tried one. I felt that way about my TiVo when I got one. You don’t find many products like that, but every ...
Speed Doesn’t Kill, Inconsistency Does
I remember several years ago reading an article reporting on the results of a study showing that consumers will put up with poor customer service almost as much as they will good customer service. I was appalled at that assertion. Why in the world would people put up with bad service? Surely good service wins ...
Overcome Your Shyness
Being shy, especially those of us who are painfully shy, is not conducive to business leadership. It holds legions of people back from achieving greater success. It’s also incredibly hard to overcome. In an article titled Bashful in Business, the Financial Times reports that there is evidence that this “social awwardness” can be overcome with ...
O.K. Now I’m Annoyed
About 3 months ago, my buddy Dave Delaney ran a poll asking if people found Twitter auto-direct messages (DMs) annoying. (Auto-DMs are automatic direct messages sent to someone who follows you – usually through a service like SocialToo.) At the time of the poll, I didn’t get too many of these and answered no. I’m ...
Stupid Recession Tricks
Recessions are tough. They’re not fun to live through, and I’ve endured several. But what really stinks is business people frequently make things worse than they have to be. We panic and give in to fear and that causes smart business folks to make soem really dumb moves. We scale back on marketing, even if ...
Perception is Reality
It may surprise some people, but even seemingly small things can affect how people see your business. A good example I see often is FedEx. At least once every other month, I see a FedEx delivery truck being towed off for repair. Alternately, I don’t recall ever seeing a UPS truck being towed. Guess which ...