While being very successful reaching the top of your heap, it can be a very deceptive trap to “relax and enjoy” that status. No matter where you are in your market position, it is never guaranteed.
Bloomberg Businessweek points out, “Popularity is not a state of grace. In business, it is treasure hard-won on the battlefields of product development [...]

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Ramping up your business is easy to do, right?  Before settling on that conclusion, check this. A careful understanding of your market and your customers is essential.
Now that you have launched your new product or your new company, the sales are starting to roll in. Your beta testers have been enthusiastic and you have made [...]

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Massachusetts Senator-elect, Scott Brown and family
Photo from www.BrownForUSSenate.com

Yes, this is written with a dirty little secret as its motive.
It applies to all businesses. But it has nothing to do with the actual election!
… almost nothing …
This article has nothing to do with the historically staggering rebuke of President Obama’s policies, the agendas of the Pelosi [...]

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The Shreveport Convention Center was the location for the ninth annual Ark-La-Tex Boat Sport and RV Show and Fishing Tournament this weekend. The event had a moderate attendance in spite of the very cold weather for this area. The weather certainly did not intimidate the vendors who filled the floor with boats, RVs, and other wheeled [...]

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Many businesses are begun with a few ideas scribbled on a paper napkin. While this is all well and good, the truly successful business must have much more important planning and research to operate well. Furthermore, the plan should be in written form. Writing the plans down forces the owner to put the plan ideas into concrete, understandable form. That will be important as a definable benchmark to which to refer later.

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Yes, as we discussed in the last issue, the marketplace has undergone a rather radical change in the past thirty years. With the numerous options available to today’s consumer, he or she behaves differently than in years – and centuries – past. With the rapid changes in the marketplace a person in business can become [...]

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The marketplace has undergone a rather radical change in the past thirty years. Today’s consumer has many more options than have previously existed. This has in turn changed the way the consumer behaves. I hasten to add that that we human beings have not fundamentally changed but our options have. Therefore, we have changed our [...]

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During difficult economic times when business is down, the overwhelming temptation is to trim everything often by a set percentage across the board. This is a natural, yet misguided impulse. When a business owner or manager tells me, “We have no choice but to trim our marketing budget,” I ask what he or she considers [...]

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Your List is . . . Everything?

Your mailing list (or e-mail list) is everything! 
 I know this sounds like an overstatement, but consider this.
Your list is your customer database.  The names on this list are the record, so to speak, of your business.  They are certainly the most valuable asset of your business.  “But,” you may argue, [...]

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I deal with a great many business in a variety of fields and find that a distressing number of the people consider many things and miss one of the most critical elements in that decision.
Businesses in trouble often run hither and thither trying solutions again ignoring this critical element.
That critical element?  Market Research!
Anyone, at the [...]

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