Forecasting sales at for a new venture requires in-depth research along with educated guess work. There is no substitute for knowing your customers and why they will buy your offering. Buyers will choose your product over the competition because it is different or better. They buy for their own reasons and not yours. Presuming your…
“Quick response” codes or “QR codes” as they are more commonly known, are little bar-codes which can be read and scanned by your smartphone. The codes can be stored with no typing required. URLs are the most commonly scanned QR codes and the typical message is to visit a website or to see something. The…
My friend Mahdy Khaiyat encourages me to express myself freely — to let my creativity flow with abandon. He says that if I do this I will subvert conventionality. Creativity may be the crude 0il of innovation and a basic requirement for successful entrepreneurship. While many people have great ideas, few apply them or put…
The ubiquitous business card is a critical tool for communicating your brand. Make sure it reflects your image and that you maximize its usefulness. Here are 12 tips for better business cards: 1. Print the card using color. Study after study shows that color printing significantly impacts the readers’ ability to notice and remember. 2. …
Here is a blog written by Dr. Stephen Duarte: There is no question that the economic conditions have affected your revenue generating potential. The tendency is to get tougher on the sales force when revenue heads south, but you might want to rethink that strategy. Pressure is met with resistance! The more pressure you apply…
Consumers are flooded with advertising messages. It is estimated that the average American sees over 3,000 advertising messages a day. These messages come in all forms: e-mail, newspaper, direct mail, web advertising, radio, TV, and others. Increasingly these traditional advertising methods are loosing effectiveness. Yet, direct-to-door advertising seems to be increasing in effectiveness when marketing…
When a small business or start up approaches a bank for a loan, you need to be able to answer the following eight questions: 1. How much money do you want? 2. Why do you want the money? 3. How will the money be used? 4. How will you repay the loan? 5. What is…
Clever headline? OK, maybe not, but as least it got your attention. Welcome to the world of the paraprosdokian, which is a figure of speech used in the last part of a sentence or phrase that is surprising or unexpected. Comedians use this device to amuse or surprise us. Groucho Marx once said, “”I’ve had…
“I had great success using this book (“First, Best, or Different”) for teaching university level marketing. The use of real world examples connects with the students. Student feedback was very positive. The book is fun to read.” Dr. Nancy Merlino Food Marketing and Agribusiness Department, Program Director Western Collegiate Food Marketing Competition, Chair California State…
“We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.” Charles R. Swindoll Opportunity is everywhere, but we have been trained since childhood to say “no” or to look the other way. All our lives we have been taught to fear the unknown, to avoid strangers, and to play it…