The Most Important Thing

I’m a little behind in my blog reading (and blog posting) but I ran across an excellent piece today from last month by my buddy Doug Fleener at the Retail Contrarian blog called The Most Important Thing You Do. As Doug so rightly points out, the most important thing you do as a manager [...]

Small Business Owners–I Need Your Help

A shameless request.
I’ve never done anything like this before, but I need your help.  Hopefully those of you who follow this blog on a regular basis find some value in it.  If it makes you think, or moves you to action, or occasionally makes you laugh, then I think I’ve done my job.
Over the years, [...]

No Wonder We’re in a Recession!

An interesting thing happened to me today.  I had a flat tire on my bike.  Fortunately it went flat while I was having lunch with my wife, so we threw the bike in the back of her SUV and she dropped me off at a local bike shop.  While the mechanic fixed the flat I [...]

Experts?

It’s Friday!  Another summer weekend is at hand so I hope you’ll forgive me for this mini-rant.  It’s not a big deal, really, but it’s something that bugs me.
We live in an age when anyone with a computer and an internet connection can create a presence for him/her self.  (Including me)  That’s great!  Even if [...]

Multiple Channels of Distribution

This may get a bit long, so I apologize in advance, but it’s a complicated issue.
I’ve been following a discussion on another forum on the subject of multiple channels of distribution.  Here’s the gist of the conversation.  A company who manufactures consumer goods in the United States offers two protected lines to independent retailers.  There [...]

Getting Response in a Down Economy

Dean Rieck, who writes the Direct Creative blog has put together a 38 page white paper called Getting Response in a Down Economy.  In Dean’s own words, the white paper “reveals what’s really happening in the marketplace, how your customers are reacting, and the 4 key principles you can use to boost your direct mail [...]

Take Notes with Your iPhone

If you’re like me you need to take notes.  Sometimes I think of something then forget it while I’m looking for a piece of paper to write it down.  If you’re an iPhone user, here’s help from Griffin Technologies.
Griffin is offering an app for your iPhone (or iPod Touch) called iTalk.  iTalk turns your iPhone [...]

Multi-Billion $ Small Biz Tax?

According to House Republican Leader John Boehner’s blog,
House Democrats plan on raising taxes – to the tune of “$540 billion over the next decade” – on small businesses, investors, and job creators in the midst of the worst economic recession in 30 years, all in an effort to cover some of the cost of their [...]

All Star Weekend

Those of you who are sports fans know that Major League Baseball’s All Star Game takes place here in Saint Louis tomorrow (Tuesday) night.  It’s been forty-three years since the last Mid-Summer Classic was played in our town so I’m thinking this will be my last chance to get in on the fun without traveling.
Tickets [...]

The WSJ on Buying Local

In case you missed it, here’s a link to a recent Wall Street Journal article featuring the 3/50 Project.  Frankly, the article isn’t that great, but it does highlight the experience of one small business owner’s success with her “buy local” efforts.
We don’t have the resources of our larger competitors when it comes to advertising [...]