See the USA in Your ????

Here in Saint Louis, a local car dealer, Frank Bommarito, often buys full page ads in the dead-tree newspaper to comment on business topics. He recently did a nice comment piece on the death of his competitor, Dave Sinclair.
But today, in a piece on China’s economic recovery, he made some comments that frankly, scare the [...]

5 Tips for Shopping Local

Thanks to Phil Reed of  Vacuums and More in Lincoln City, OR for sending me the link to this article from MSN City Guides.  It’ s directed toward your customers.
The article, by John Rossheim,  begins by appealing to shoppers’ civic pride and their desire to help their fellow citizens.  If that doesn’t move them, Rossheim [...]

Small Business Myths

[This post originally appeared at Mine Your Own Business on November 2, 2006.]
In this past Sunday’s (actually 10/29/06) Napa Valley Register, writer Beth Pratt exposes 8 myths about starting and running a small business.
1. Over 95% of small businesses fail. In the 1990s there was a report that said 95% of all new [...]

Telephone Etiquette

What with high gas prices and time pressure, your customers and prospects are using the phone more than ever to get price and product information.  How you and your staff handle this important means of communication may well determine whether you ever get a chance at someone’s business.
Jeff Mowatt provides an interesting telephone test on [...]

Persistance

[This post originally appeared at Mine Your Own Business on October 10, 2006.]
Today, I’d like to offer a famous quotation without any additional comment. It’s just something to think about.
“Nothing
in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not;
nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; [...]

Impulse Items

This post originally appeared at Mine Your Own Business on October 23, 2006.
We all know that grocery stores love to put high-margin impulse items near the cash register.  They know that, while you’re waiting in line, you’ll keep your mind occupied by looking over the merchandise that’s right there in front of you.  Most [...]

Small Business Bailout?

According to an article from Bloomberg.com, Senator Mark Warner (Dem-VA) is calling on the Obama administration to do more for small business. Warner believes that more of the $700 billion TARP funds should be used to give direct help to small business.
“The original notion of the TARP was, we were going to help Main [...]

New Year’s Resolutions

OK, I know it’s only October 14 and New Year’s resolutions are made at the beginning of the new year. But wouldn’t it be great if January 1 rolled around and you had a 78-day head start on self-improvement? Talk about hitting the ground running.
In this spirit I offer you a link to [...]

5 Tips for Women to Become Leaders

You may not be a member of the female persuasion, but chances are you know someone who is.  Here’s a link to an excellent article by Anita Bruzzese who writes regularly for Gannett.  She recently interviewed Joanna Barsh and Susie Cranston, authors of How Remarkable Women Lead.
This is something all managers should know.  Not only [...]

Cardinals & Dogers–Plus a New Web Site

This has nothing whatsoever to do with small business or mining the store, but hey, it’s free so once in a while I get to post something off-topic. The Cardinals and the Dodgers are getting ready to play fall baseball. They play 162 games just to get to this point so congratulations to [...]