Archives

• Two young ladies: A contrast in character and leadership
• Mine is short and powerful. How about yours?
• Warren Buffett to Josh: Read, read, read
• Farmville must die
• Do you offer a recession anxiety warranty?
• Take along your uglier brother
• Startups, Apollo and head bobbing

February 2010

• What's lighting up your dashboard?
• Take good care of the canary
• Management garbage
• What to do if you have too many customers
• The Reason Why
• Little, inexpensive things mean a lot
• The Social Media Scoreboard
• How's that 2010 working for ya so far?
• Baiting the hook with opera
• Shredding mad pow in my driveway
• The size of the mountain doesn't matter
• Scoble, Secretariat and Mister Ed

January 2010

• Strategic planning or not?
• Things you'd never say to a CEO?
• Available...today?!?
• Are you building bridges or moats?
• Are you foolish?
• Happy New Year. Now get to work!
• Competing with everyone
• Industries in motion: 10 rising, 10 sinking
• What's most valuable to a business?

December 2009

• Retailers: How do I know you *really* have it?
• Retailers: Are you making your own recession?
• 44 ways to kick start the New Year
• Where were you when the iPhone and Kindle were being designed?
• China, India, Microsoft and Apple: What they do isn't FAIR!
• On obscene profits and the joy of being average
• Do your homework, someone in China is starving for your job
• Rest in peace, Jim Rohn
• Don't get comfortable
• Where black people and white people buy furniture
• 5 strategies for a better 2010

November 2009

• Bad apples make you taller, thinner and better looking (until Dec 1 2009)
• 5 sources of innovation
• Scarlett Johansson's lips
• Why people buy
• Happy New Year! Take the next six weeks off
• Are you throwing stuff overboard?
• Overheard in the frozen food section: What's all that crap you post on Facebook?
• Test your ability to influence others for the right reasons
• Forty six recession-busting "secrets" from Tom Peters
• Little things matter, like doorknobs and receipts
• A not so little reason why American Airlines loses millions
• 100 things waiters, real estate agents and mechanics should never do, Part 2
• King for a Day: Verizon
• Taken a pulse lately?
• Scared is the wrong word
• 100 things waiters, real estate agents and mechanics should never do, Part 1
• Are you thinking about 5 years from now? Really?
• Cab drivers come in all flavors
• Are you using your white hair too?
• Hold that plane

October 2009

• What's Scary? Ordinary coffee, Michael Jackson and a dancing tiger named Mike
• Rapping McDonald's order gets a bad rap
• Thoughtful service makes them Remember the Alamo
• Smart companies and the post-crisis consumer
• How are you getting them back into the fold?
• Holy cow, I gotta have that!
• Rotary phones and iPhones battle it out
• If you want to sell honey, don't forget the biscuits
• Stunningly reasonable, efficient, and customer-oriented service
• If you really want to help, just give them the fish.
• 15 seconds: The difference between so-so and ...
• Little things you don't have to do
• What is reasonable?
• The thing in the way of amazing
• 6 leadership competencies
• Roadblocks: Regret of the past, routine of the present

September 2009

• Shivering your business timbers
• Seth, Harvard and understanding social network users
• How do you keep up?
• 5 tips for turning customers into fans
• *Which* fries do you want with that?
• Follow the dots. Or the money.
• iTunes LP, the rich media salesperson
• A pigeon with a great value proposition
• Earn trust or destroy it? Your choice
• Pardon the effs, but what the eff is social media?
• Atomic batteries to power, turbines to speed
• What's that creature in the water?
• Follow up
• Greek, sheep and the celebration of work
• 22 things you dont know about your customers' web viewing habits

August 2009

• Cybercriminals are smiling
• Adobe misses the outsourcing boat
• Another Dan-ism: Good enough is good enough
• Watch out for those kids
• Your customer's pet peeve
• Hi, my name is TriFold Brochure. Not.
• Matt wasn't writing about starting a bank.
• Do you make their eyes shine?
• Being unsociable is a poor choice for the SEC
• Business Code of the West
• Right message, right person, right timing
• FACTA: Red Flags and Milk Bones
• Measurement, competition and the right person for the job
• 18 minutes of peace-making thought
• Measurement and the fine art of bidding
• The power of measurement
• Being Perfect, Measurement and the Golden Rule
• I'm no Gary Bencivenga
• Yeah. It's software again.
• The little things you cant sell
• Free, Seth, Malcolm and Reinvention
• What local coffee shops can learn from SEC football
• How to cut costs and eliminate waste in your business
• Don't miss a chance to connect
• Selling garbage and urine
• Yo Quiero Taco Bell
• Something special in the air
• Looking up at an ugly linebacker
• Do you have personal standards?

July 2009

• Jim Koch's Teachable Moment
• T-shirts that talk. Or not.
• Wonder if the coffin hinges squeaked?
• Is it the recession or is it you?
• Letting your hair down
• Little things sell big things
• A pitcher of Diet Coke, 250 humid yards and a sippy cup
• Wonder: The Value of Twitter
• The new economics of entrepreneurship
• Standing around on the Moon
• @GaryVee: Don't be average, Average Joe
• What do a Nebraska farmer and Paypal Australia have in common?
• Cracks in your life. What would bust them wide open?
• Customer service is the "new" marketing? Nope
• Boat anchors are bad business. Sharing is good business.
• The 17 questions they hope you'll never ask
• Bad conversation: Like peeing on the seat
• Shane 0, Comcast 0. No one wins when you offer loser customer service
• Amanda Palmer 1, Naysayers 0
• Planning ahead: 700 year old trees

June 2009

• Half full or half empty? Either way, it's still half.
• The wisdom of setting expectations from a 17 year old bacon lover
• Feedback. Courtesy. Try it. Accept it. Use it.
• If there's no thermometer, does that mean there's no fever?
• Is real-time fast enough for you?
• I am a slacker. Are you?
• Good business is simple.
• In a room full of billionaires, the cream still rises.
• Without customers, there ain't no business, Joe.
• Old gray haired white guys
• Do CEOs Matter - Mike says "Yes"
• My golf clubs are wrapped around a tree
• 3 ways to destroy a vendor-client relationship
• Are you really competing or just wasting my time?
• A visual look at that "Do what you love and the money will come" thing
• Excuses. Bonnie Richardson has none.
• 50 ways to kick your business into gear, from Tom Peters
• Dude, I caught your wife cheating last night at...
• What's Your Fish?
• Inspiring your customers with kangaroos and wombats
• So, what exactly do you do, anyhow?
• Someone keyed my Karma
• Let them show some appreciation

May 2009

• Surfing the Riptide of Customer Service, part 2
• Surfing the Riptide of Customer Service, part 3
• Surfing the Riptide of Customer Service, part 4
• Are you a dragon slayer?
• Sons and Daughters
• Surfing the Riptide of Customer Service, part 1
• Tampons and Your Business
• Trust: The attraction that built Paul Harvey's tribe
• Why are you leaving money on the table?
• 15 percent of sales from a zero cost Twitter promo? Tweet-za, Tweet-za!
• Good enough for the Pope. Good enough for your business?
• Don't Shoot the Photographer
• Are you a natural?
• What success looks like
• Coffee: The new "Do you want fries with that?"
• Social media and customer service
• Is this the Apprentice you really want?
• Revitalizing your business
• Social media mistakes small business owners should avoid
• Social Media: Time Waster or Essential Small Business Tool?
• Joel nails it: Why Circuit City really closed
• Starbucks strikes back against "theft"
• Dreaming not just OK, it's essential.
• Kentucky Derby
• Wallflowers at the 7th grade dance
• When their eyes roll back in their head...
• Scoble learns what Kennedy's been telling us for years
• The Zen Ten
• I know every piece of wood that goes into this house
• Selling the unsellable

April 2009

• Oprah is an alien?
• Apple's Dirty Little iPhone Secret
• Anoop voted off American Idol. Economy recovers. News at 11.
• The one thing that can transform your business?
• Airlines: What's more valuable than a customer?
• Do your numbers really matter?
• Her 4 life-changing minutes
• #amazonfail, Niemoller and your business
• Obama's Pizza War : Get your piece of the pie
• There's no time
• Ron Clark: Everything we do is personal
• Twitter and The Echo Chamber
• A Second Life for Retired Tennis Balls
• Are you overlooking sales opportunities?
• 25 characteristics of successful entrepreneurs
• The Riskiest Thing You Can Do Right Now
• 5 expensive new business mistakes and how to avoid them
• Being Jerry Garcia

March 2009

• KFC Potholes Fix: Another example of using the news
• Let young uns just step up and solve it
• Is it time to sell? If so, can you get enough?
• What Market Price Really Means
• Is this why some artists (and others) are starving?
• Ignore customers at your peril
• If your entire staff turned over today, would anyone notice?
• Does your job suck? Is it boring? Is it creating value?
• The Cure for "The Culture of Cant"
• Watering down your message
• Hugh's advice for entrepreneurs
• Why Seth buys from Joel
• The force is strong with this Congress
• I'll have a soft taco phone, please
• What makes the phone ring in any economy?
• Happy Birthday, Barbie!
• Apple TV, Asian Women and Your Business
• Ryan Air cant even afford to flush?
• Which of these four types of businesses do you own?
• Spinning plates while listening to smart older people
• The Dow fell, let's go out to eat!
• Rhetoric, "privacy" and those Presidential campaign email lists
• Are you dead weight in a "Man Overboard" Economy?
• Grab a Bounty and wipe it up. NOW.
• Bad business is just dumb, even in the "worst of times"
• Is your marketing as clever as the Stimulus Prize Patrol's?
• Fishing for ideas using IdeaCast
• Eighty percent of success is NOT just showing up

February 2009

• The CPSIA, Glenn Beck, the Chicken and the Egg
• Quincy Bioscience does it with Congress
• Warm chocolate chip cookies and the big difference between you and them
• Do you paralyze them with choices?
• Competing with Bullwinkle
• Why Gary Vaynerchuk watches and listens. What about you?
• Lessons from companies that have NEVER laid off an employee
• 7 dumb things we do, 8 tricks to prevent them
• Inherit the earth, inhale the opportunity
• The valuable assets your competition is giving away
• First Nicholson, now Vogel: You can't handle the truth?
• What makes you shine like a Ferrari?
• Sorry Buster, but Grandpa's mess kit is off-limits
• If you don't provide value, little else matters.
• Think you're too busy? Here's how to get 6 extra WEEKS this year
• George Bailey and Darwin on the economy
• Does that romantic iPod Touch make you swoon?
• DeMint gives CPSIA instructions to small business owners
• Even Disney's doing it - treating customers on their birthday

January 2009

• Did management learn anything after 246 years?
• CPSIA 1 year stay granted: Proof of the might of social media for marketing
• A slight edge to improve your website's contact page and calendar
• Andy Hoffman tells CPSIA whiners to "grow up"
• CPSIA thoughts from a manufacturer/retailer: Cut that line
• CPSIA: I'm from the government and I'm here to help
• Do it yourself CPSIA Press Release
• Thinking outside the box store
• Message received: "DONT CONTACT US"
• Taking the kids - and your website - on a long road trip
• Energy and Commerce letter to Waxman/Rush re: CPSIA
• Denial - Not a river in Egypt, an attitude about the CPSIA
• The Parrot Says You Can't Do That
• Smoke, mirrors or an honest effort to fix the CPSIA?
• Have any of you ever endured an inspection by the CPSC police?
• 4 more ways get ideas for new products/services
• WSJ speaks out on the CPSIA
• Two More Real Businesses. Profitable. Dead due to CPSIA.
• CPSC's Vallese interview review re: CPSIA
• Where to get ideas for new products and services
• Comment period on Component Testing for CPSIA
• 6 month old raises awareness for CPSIA
• CPSIA closure hits the TV news
• The Trust Economy
• Another product line falls to CPSIA
• #CPSIA - Got a little Howard Beale in you?
• CPSC issues "guidance" for thrift and resale shops re: CPSIA
• Forging ahead despite the CPSIA
• Your son's Pinewood Derby car: a "banned hazardous substance"
• Are your testimonials illegal? Will they be?
• What you should be doing about the CPSIA
• Offer customer-focused reasons vs. "It's our policy"
• CPSIA and small business - Still ignored by the Senate
• Working ON your business: Make it a habit
• Does your staff *really* know enough to sell your product, even to early adopters?

December 2008

• Can we depend on your business? 2 minutes can change it all.
• Deposits, karma - Whatever it is, are you earning yours?
• The folks at Axe Body Spray think like a guerrilla. Can you?
• Passion or productivity - Which can you handle?
• Sweatshirts and t-shirts: Wondering who the CPSIA will put out of business.
• Selling Santa with postcards
• Heard in the slammer: "I used to make handmade toys"
• Help! What's wrong with my mailing?
• What's easier? Selling Santa or a SUV?
• *The* most important thing about your letter
• We sell a commodity. There's no way to differentiate it.
• 5 ways to thank your customers
• Stampedes and shootings: Just another Black Friday
• How to provoke a sea change
• Pity the fool who doesn't communicate
• You have 2 choices: Listen or Die
• What do a turkey and an iPhone have in common?
• Why does the phone ring?

November 2008

• Make your automation personal, not just automatic
• Role reversal: Use it when crafting a product, service, story or ad
• I rescued a human today
• Did you have that idea...AGAIN?
• Twitter just doesnt make sense for business
• Ignore those 2 posts. Direct mail is dead. RIP.
• Insomnia and the Social Media Roadmap
• A few exceptions for those 5 direct mail mistakes
• Business is Personal is now available on iTunes
• Do you make these 5 direct mail mistakes?
• Don't tick off the moms
• If your business uses PPC ads, your world just changed. Again.
• When I grow up I want to be an old woman
• Cold and Timid Souls
• The Wharton School agrees with me: Focus on upscale loyal clientele.
• Camouflage lipstick? Not even.
• What to know before selling gift cards in your business
• President proof your business #2: Drizzle on the absolute best
• Too many customers? Now what?
• Election lessons for small business owners
• President proof your business: Through the eyes of your clients
• Customer service: Why your business should be using social media
• Take the blame AND the credit
• The ladies really dig my shiny new membership card
• How to tell your clients you don't want their business
• That just wont work for my business
• How to be a business burnout. Or not.

October 2008

• Obama and Don K Infomercials: Breeding familiarity
• 7 seconds of recession-busting business advice
• Not ALL marketing is local. Nor is it personal.
• You and the NY Times, bucking for change of another kind
• How are you preparing for a long business winter?
• Just when you think you've made it and you can finally rest...
• Don't tarnish the silver lining. Polish it.
• A Warm Jacket in a Storm
• Buying local: Bigger than the bailout
• 31 flavors of marketing: Another election-related marketing campaign
• Teach your clients to be smarter, better educated buyers
• Do your sales materials give people brochure boredom?
• Are you getting paid?
• It takes a lot money to start a business. Or does it?
• Another way to talk to your community
• If 7-11 can use the news, why can't you?
• Are you getting enough airplane time?
• Wall Street & Washington: Where The Wild Things Are
• Free is good. So is not so free. Know the difference.
• 5 minutes to build a more profitable business in a post-bailout economy
• Make sure your clients' birthday is a special one
• Your marketing message: Stay on context
• 5 billion reasons to stop using boring marketing
• How do you react to a competitor's mistake?
• 5 entrepreneur lessons from Guy Kawasaki
• Keeping your focus
• Small Business and "The Oprah Factor"
• If you find a Foster, hire him. Don't just tip him.
• 3 guarantees that will grow your business

September 2008

• Frozen by the bailout?
• Tick, tick, tick. What are spare minutes costing your business?
• 5 strategies to bailout your Main Street business without Federal help
• Tuned In questions to ask about your Me Too product
• An in-your-face reminder to GET. STUFF. DONE.
• Finger lickin' good PR for KFC
• Building a Better Mousetrap
• What would Eleanor bring to your business?
• Beating the franchises and box stores: Are you making it easy to buy?
• Does your business have a ladder?
• Is it better to be smart, resilient or hard working?
• Are you listening to the right people?
• Are you missing the point of automation?
• Why your staff wants more profitable work to do
• The person *really* in charge of the economy
• Know someone who has no time to learn?
• Are most cold callers lazy? Absolutely.
• Hire that punk kid with the snowboard? Are you nuts???
• I know what you look like
• Comcast: Choosing the wrong way
• When are you going to adapt?
• 15 things you gotta be, small business owners

August 2008

• Some new Glacier Park photos
• Do your clients need a faster horse?
• "What value are we going to provide customers that no one else does?"
• Leading your market: Not an opportunity you wait for.
• How your top 10 clients can impact your disaster recovery
• Flip Video: One person's design is another's ridiculous annoyance
• Olympic ads link fixed
• Planning for the train wreck before it happens
• Does your store or restaurant give people the urge to splurge?
• Olympic ads: Measurable ROI = $0?
• Preparing for business disaster: Replacing You.
• What's your story regarding business fire or flood disasters?
• What can you learn from a business disaster?
• 10 books list - actually includes a link now:)
• The High Art of Paying Attention
• The last deviled egg
• Do Olympians quit, work harder or work different?
• Improving the conversation
• 7 reasons why 20somethings are more productive
• 10 books for successful entrepreneurs, as recommended by Yanik Silver
• Rocky roads and retailers
• Considering telecommuters for your business?
• Permission to market, sir?
• Quitting for the wrong reasons
• Why are you STILL wasting time?
• Business owners are the Root of all Evil?
• Coasting is not allowed. Not in the pool, not in business
• The Intersection of Policy and Customer Service
• "Nothing can be done about it." Phooey.

July 2008

• Direct Mail Mistakes That Cost You Money
• MobileMe becomes ImmobileMe
• What would a HARO look like in your market?
• Why don't you do what you know needs to be done?
• Farewell, Randy Pausch
• Stumped about taking it to the next level?
• Why do prices end in .99?
• Making it juuuust right for Baby Bear
• Chipping away at your clients - Bad idea
• Are your prospects giddy?
• How to make follow up actually happen
• Earl Nightingale would be proud
• Would you buy $34MM for $5MM?
• Spend more than they do on marketing, but do it properly.
• More on the expanse of mediocrity
• A Brief Guide to World Domination
• What would you do if failure wasn't an option?
• Whose language are you speaking?
• The value of follow up
• Two simple keys to easy revenue and better service
• Working ON your business vs working IN your business
• Trying to read Business is Personal by phone?
• Life and business control starts with systems
• The Myth of Multitasking
• Doing one thing really well
• Celebrating Business, and US Independence
• Square watermelons or stagnant thought. Your choice.
• Find and fight the fire before the customer does
• How to make a guarantee say "Buy me NOW"
• Fuel cost thoughts for small business owners

June 2008

• Don't make it hard for people to give you money
• Small business invades the Ukraine
• Do you send the wrong unspoken messages to clients?
• Do you know why you lost that client? I do.
• Denying service to Tiger Woods
• Are you paying attention to your competition?
• Can you really reserve the right to refuse service?
• Learning from Google
• Is your business stuck in the Dark Ages?
• Is your business more dangerous when injured?
• Southwest: Something simple in the air
• We dont need no stinking batches
• Irony is spelled E-X-X-O-N
• It's Tyme to say "sayonara" to ShareThis
• Small business + iPhone app = opportunity
• How to tick off a big group of customers
• Update: Transparent Economics
• Who cares about the iPhone?
• The cause for being nimble
• Underdog marketing
• Transparent economics. Are yours?
• Fuel Surcharges: Another reason to buy local
• Who has time for marketing?
• Insulating yourself from disaster
• The fine line between personal and business

May 2008

• Firing a client
• New reader survey: What's your biggest marketing challenge?
• Operations and Details: Why you need a passion for crossing the T and dotting the I
• 7 more reasons why small business owners should blog
• Saying no to business
• American Airlines tests the law of unintended consequences
• Obama and Clinton: "We're so glad it's over"
• Money loves speed
• Is your business dependent on suburbia?
• Pet peeves and your business' addiction to crack
• 42 cents for a stamp? Run away, run away!
• Overstock.com 1, New York State 0
• If your business disappeared, would anyone notice?
• Making it easier - isn't that what your clients really want?
• Your clients have better things to do
• Can video stores compete with a robot?
• Evidence of the value of paying for a Trump
• Papa John's isn't a Crybaby
• Attention to the little things pays small business dividends
• Keeping score is important for your business
• Is your business in the gap between passionate and mainstream?
• Is your business ready to boil?
• Change that your business can believe in
• How to serve mail order coffee while wearing your e-commerce marketing hat
• Business is Personal blog featured at marketing.alltop.com
• links for 2008-05-03
• Sticking a fork in restaurant websites
• Plant Photo Seeds in the minds of your clients
• links for 2008-05-02
• Going a step past ordinary
• Productivity on a weekend!
• Business owners: Do the math when putting on a promotional event

April 2008

• Woopra web analytics: Mom, I take it all back
• links for 2008-04-30
• 5 ways to entice customers to spend their tax rebate check at your small business
• links for 2008-04-29
• What's troubling your business?
• links for 2008-04-25
• Scoble, Hawk, Ansel, Sadie & Yosemite: The power of social media
• links for 2008-04-22
• Hiring staff to help with marketing? Start them off with these business books.
• links for 2008-04-21
• Marketing winners and losers: Pope Benedict XIV's visit to the U.S.
• How have fuel prices changed your customers' behavior?
• TED: Music, technology, expression, engineering & Cerebral Palsy
• links for 2008-04-17
• Locals grumble about real estate websites too
• Giving away free stuff
• Your blog can show your clients "How to"
• The Pope and Seth Godin
• Why don't real estate agents take their websites seriously?
• links for 2008-04-15
• The meaning of the word: "Can't"
• Best Seat in the House shows why you should be blogging
• MyStarbucksIdea.com - A gift to every independent coffee shop and cafe owner
• links for 2008-04-13
• Twitter for business: Does it make sense, or is it just another time vampire?
• How to react to the news in your marketing
• links for 2008-04-11
• Saving lives with Twitter
• links for 2008-04-09
• 86 percent have no plan. Are you wandering in the desert with them?
• Is your business targeting this recession-proof market?
• Fundamental excuses for Memphis and your business
• links for 2008-04-08
• Get a new plumber: Yahoo Pipes
• David Apple wastes no time, passes Goliath Wal-Mart in music sales
• links for 2008-04-04
• 25% of 2008 is gone. Where do you stand?
• Amazon responds to print on demand (POD) changes
• 8 Secrets to Success
• Microsoft's "apology" to XBox owner, a good lesson
• Quality: As your small business grows, it's more critical
• Higher prices bring pleasure to buyers, Cal Tech study shows
• Does your small business send personal emails?
• Green is about saving money - and your business
• Why should a small business sell gift cards?

March 2008

• links for 2008-04-01
• WordPress 2.5 - A big time breath of fresh air for bloggers
• links for 2008-03-30
• Amazon launches their weapon of mass destruction, steps on the long tail of independent authors
• CommentLuv dishes out the link love
• links for 2008-03-25
• Evidence supporting "neither a lender, nor a borrower be"
• What are the obstacles to making your small business more successful?
• links for 2008-03-24
• links for 2008-03-23
• Small business owners, like consultants, should be everywhere
• Cheesesteak Wars in South Philly
• RSS: What's that little orange button on the right mean?
• Wal-Mart bails out of Hamilton, won't build SuperCenter
• Look what the Easter Bunny brought: a ping list for your blog
• Business is Personal's Friday Private Post begins this week...
• 500th post
• links for 2008-03-21
• Direct mail? Old school, yet dead tree ROI continues to please
• links for 2008-03-20
• Is your business ready for disruptive events?
• Retailers, do your customers have "bad taste"?
• links for 2008-03-19
• Trump's guy gives 7 reasons why buying a business is better than starting one
• links for 2008-03-18
• links for 2008-03-17
• Be the Google of your market niche
• 7 questions to ask yourself before going into business
• links for 2008-03-16
• When a competitor gives you an opening, hammer them like Hillary
• What do your small business customers need that they don't buy from you?
• Blocking time improves small business owner productivity
• Applicants will jump through hoops for your small business - if you ask them
• Is your small business website a Store or a Brochure?
• Human capital and other juicy business buzzwords
• links for 2008-03-08
• Brookstone: A retailer with a gift (card) for smart business moves
• Mopping up messes - What's the best way?
• Does practice pay off for a small business owner?
• links for 2008-03-06
• Reverse your clients' risk - I guarantee it.
• If Tiger Woods takes advice on golf...
• links for 2008-03-04
• Have you lost a customer today?
• links for 2008-03-03
• Should a business owner "Punk Rock" their life? In this case, YES.

February 2008

• links for 2008-02-28
• Political Marketing: Are Obama, Clinton and McCain asking to be blacklisted?
• How to measure advertising response in any media
• Would one "minor glitch" bring down your company?
• links for 2008-02-27
• After The Coding: 12 things I wish I had known before I started my software company
• Wedding and a funeral create a customer service mashup
• links for 2008-02-22
• Marketing opportunities: As perishable as lettuce.
• links for 2008-02-20
• All women think alike, right?
• Goals, Marketing and the Catholic Store
• If Michael Jordan is ok with failing, isn't it ok for you?
• One way to tell if your ads need a makeover
• Speeding up your recovery from future "days from hell"
• Recovering from "the day from hell", aka Time Management
• Outback, aka OSI Restaurant Partners, takes their hand back out of servers' pockets
• Do your customers' eyes light up when you deliver your products and services?
• A competitor went out of business. What do you do first?
• links for 2008-02-07
• The Monk and the Riddle
• Wal-Mart Nation: Is anxiety over box stores taking over your life?
• links for 2008-02-04
• Small business owners - What's your offensive line?
• "Starbucks will continue to emulate McDonald's"
• Political marketing: Mobile and phone support
• Political marketing: Are they testing as they communicate?
• Political marketing: Comparing the first emails from the candidates
• Political marketing: Comparing the signup process & first impressions of the candidate sites
• Candidates, online marketing, and their takeaways for small business
• Why people subscribe to a blog, newsletter, or anything you write
• links for 2008-02-02
• Using Libby's good news to promote your wood stove business
• A tip for restaurant owners: Royally ticking off the customer-facing employees is a bad idea.
• Why, even now, your business should have a toll-free number
• Righting a wrong: How business owners show they give a rip.
• Are they stealing from you?
• How do you interview, much less hire, that Gen Y person?
• Decide

January 2008

• links for 2008-01-31
• How small business owners can profit from the mistakes of a billion dollar global corporation
• The National Retail Federation "Give them a cookie" tax
• links for 2008-01-28
• links for 2008-01-25
• "Hey, we're mobile, we're mobile!"
• links for 2008-01-24
• Viral marketing doesn't work
• How do they describe you in one sentence?
• Republicans For Sale On EBay
• Tiger Woods and the "upcoming" economic recession
• Is your sales process patchy?
• Telemarketing can work, but not like this
• Starbucks' Howard on the Hotseat
• Marketing Religion
• links for 2008-01-18
• The "Menu of Delayed Pain", or Where have all the leaders gone?
• Marketing with dusty bottles
• Flying with Tim the Moose
• links for 2008-01-15
• links for 2008-01-14
• links for 2008-01-12
• links for 2008-01-11
• links for 2008-01-10
• Marketing with Human Capital
• Who is your ideal customer?
• Mommy's got a server
• Thinking like a geek - bad idea in ThinkGeek's case
• links for 2008-01-08
• What gives GoDaddy their tight grip on the domain name jugular?
• Leadership and the "little woman"
• links for 2008-01-04
• links for 2008-01-02
• Can they find your business in the card catalog?
• Open Education's 12 Must-See Education Videos of 2007
• Bose understands what people want
• They said it. How will you use it?
• What's your baggage?
• Mr. Happy Crack & the Shark
• The Feds create opportunity. Really.
• Can your site handle 12 people an hour?
• 20 word of mouth marketing questions
• How do you get your clients to talk?
• Don't sell the dirty gas station donut
• What local print shops should have been looking for, rather than excuses.

December 2007

• links for 2008-01-01
• links for 2007-12-31
• Independent bookstores wouldn't bore me like this
• links for 2007-12-30
• links for 2007-12-29
• Selling software secrets
• When the Whopper went away
• Slow down to win (and keep) your customers
• Rohn: Fix the next 10 years today
• Video for your business: Did the Queen beat you to it?
• links for 2007-12-26
• links for 2007-12-25
• What do you think about Simpleology's blog course?
• links for 2007-12-24
• If You Cant Guarantee It, Why Do You Sell It? (part 1)
• links for 2007-12-20
• links for 2007-12-18
• Can't compete with China? You just aren't trying.
• Dickel staggers out of "shortage"
• Entrepreneurs: Are you fried? Maybe this is why.
• links for 2007-12-12
• Does your business run at the speed of trust?
• A free extra shot for every neighborhood coffee shop in the U.S.
• Billings, Frogger & the Other "N Word"
• links for 2007-12-11
• links for 2007-12-07
• links for 2007-12-06
• On sale: Ham for Chanukah. Eh?
• Direct mail marketing lesson: "Breakfast with Santa"
• links for 2007-12-05
• Immune from change? Better check with your lawmakers.
• links for 2007-12-03
• Using technology to grow smarter, not dumber
• Think to differentiate your real estate, restaurant, or retail store.
• Let someone else make the sale? Sure.
• Lessons in Serendipity and consistency
• Is your staff impatient with newbies?

November 2007

• Is your store doing the obvious?
• links for 2007-11-27
• Reach out. Regularly. Or they'll forget about you.
• Attention to detail: Gets em everytime.
• links for 2007-11-26
• So, you think YOUR blog looks nice?
• Don't Quit: David 2, Goliath 0.
• Strike a chord with your clientele, & educate them.
• Video want ads to find an employee?
• 2 Pizza Shops: A Shrug vs. We're Your Personal Kitchen
• Retailers: Is your Point of Sale system generating revenue?
• links for 2007-11-20
• Gordon Gecko was wrong.
• links for 2007-11-19
• Big business figures out segmentation & measurement?
• links for 2007-11-17
• links for 2007-11-16
• links for 2007-11-15
• Is your business easy to call?
• The Customer Vanishing Act: Where'd Your Customers Go, and Why?
• Even the little guy needs to be dotting I's and crossing T's.
• Today, November 11th, is Veterans Day 2007
• $80 Canadian Blackberry Jam
• Educating Clients: Organic Water?
• Lessons: Dogs and four year olds
• links for 2007-11-08
• links for 2007-11-07
• links for 2007-11-05
• Small Retailers, You Gotta LOVE Self-Checkout at Wal-Mart and Costco
• Competitors: How to easily keep an eye on them. Free.
• links for 2007-11-03
• Are you a quitter?
• Do you care THIS MUCH about your customers?
• Sledgehammer Customer Service
• The "Do Not Call" list is a PLUS for smart businesses

October 2007

• links for 2007-10-31
• Why should I document business processes?
• links for 2007-10-29
• links for 2007-10-27
• Every move you make, every step you take, I'll be watching you.
• Never assume your documentation is complete
• links for 2007-10-26
• links for 2007-10-25
• So simple, even a car wash can do it.
• How would your company reward the return of a "lost" laptop?
• links for 2007-10-20
• links for 2007-10-18
• links for 2007-10-16
• links for 2007-10-15
• Figuring out what your customers REALLY want.
• How to send an unspoken quality message to your customers
• Why Street Cleaning Is The Most Important Job In Your Business
• Business owners can't get a hit unless they swing the bat.
• Why you should "re-open" your retail store or service business
• What holiday generates the 2nd highest spending by adults?
• links for 2007-10-09
• Little things mean a lot when communicating to customers
• links for 2007-10-08
• What retailers and service businesses can learn from "Inspecting Wal-Mart"
• Exposing the meaning of Trump's Commandments
• Competing with Walmart - this guy gets it.

September 2007

• links for 2007-09-30
• links for 2007-09-29
• 12 keys to getting referrals from your clients
• links for 2007-09-27
• Is your bank paying attention? This one is.
• links for 2007-09-26
• links for 2007-09-24
• links for 2007-09-22
• What A Testimonial For Your Business Should Include
• links for 2007-09-21
• links for 2007-09-18
• Dubai anti-smoking newspaper ad mocks 9/11
• WordPress MU is a great tool. Sadly AdSense link bait spammers agree.
• links for 2007-09-17
• Bob Dylan recommends my blog?
• It's Time To Renew Your Do Not Call Listing
• Mini-skirt marketing
• Why big corporate is SO easy to market against.
• links for 2007-09-15
• 3 minute warning: Big reasons employers have to pay attention to the little things
• Are you fishing for prospects in the right place? Bob Mazzuca is.
• links for 2007-09-13
• I'm no Lord Vader, don't make me use the Force on your "artsy" side.
• links for 2007-09-12
• links for 2007-09-11
• Dropped the ball? Pick it up.
• One kid's project turns into smart marketing nationwide
• You can't read this post. It's too hard. Probably ought to just quit right now.
• links for 2007-09-07
• links for 2007-09-06
• links for 2007-09-05
• Could your business handle an 18 day shutdown?
• How Smart Businesses Use Little Green Army Men
• links for 2007-09-04
• Pig blood & deer, or How to fix an unsuccessful advertisement
• links for 2007-09-03
• Smart like a newspaper?
• Credit vs debit. What's a retailer / restaurant owner to do?
• links for 2007-09-02
• Appalachian State vs Michigan, just like You vs WalMart
• Outing Scouting

August 2007

• links for 2007-09-01
• links for 2007-08-31
• links for 2007-08-30
• What to do when you're backed into a corner.
• links for 2007-08-29
• Mr. Rogers teaches a $20MM sales lesson
• Did you pass math? Wordpress now requires that you prove it:)
• links for 2007-08-28
• I'm a SOB
• links for 2007-08-27
• links for 2007-08-25
• Can you really "own" a word in your industry?
• What Delta Air Lines' Richard "Ferocious" Anderson should have said.
• links for 2007-08-23
• Autism Speaks
• Get a huge business edge over 50% of U.S. adults in only 15 minutes a day
• links for 2007-08-22
• Even Dilbert's friend knows when he's getting poor customer service.
• links for 2007-08-21
• San Diego recruited for performance AND character. So should your business.
• links for 2007-08-20
• Getting more blog traffic: Social Networking
• This old man, he's got Dish.
• How to become an overnight business success
• Cull the herd, cultivate the mentor
• If you pay your people minimum wage, you are an idiot.
• How to lose millions of dollars in sales, quickly
• Learning from JFK would help resolve Romney's marketing problem
• China, toys, dog food and lead
• The right (and wrong) reasons to use CRM software in your business
• Lombardi said "This is a football."
• Tiers of joy
• X-Ray glasses and other fundamental secret weapons
• Saying "No" so you can say "Yes" later
• Trust the process, whether you're flippin' burgers or selling jets
• They know where you live. But do they care?
• Posturing: The Wonder Bread of elected officials
• Word to the Governor - stop smoking
• Why you don't want to be a perfect "10" for clients, or your spouse.
• Stand up, brush yourself off, and fix it.
• Online businesses: Service or schmervice?

July 2007

• How businesses burn dollars saving dimes
• Are you a crappy American parent?
• Even a car wash has a loyalty program. You should too.
• What your staff has in common with a 12 year old.
• I know who your worst employee is.
• Hidden lessons from the Katie Couric NY Mag story
• Cross-branding. Good enough for Starbucks and Hershey. How 'bout you?
• Sales - It's how you wrap it.
• What I should have done to care for my blog, week before last...
• Outdoor businesses can make it easier to Pay, Pal.
• Unintended consequences - European style
• Restaurant Euthanasia
• Differentiating, educating and hammering
• Make it easy to buy
• Know your customer - again...
• "GE, We bring old browsers to life"
• 1,338 Words
• Would you send a customer home for 48 hours?
• Don't shoot the manager, fire 'em.
• "Sorry folks, the Park's closed. The moose out front shoulda told ya."
• Lessons from Dunkirk Montana, population two.

June 2007

• Smartest barber on the planet
• I'm not the one who needs the reminder...
• Is your appointment book full?
• Marketing lessons from a Catholic bookstore
• Are you smarter than a dry cleaners?
• What you have in common with an Angel
• It's all about size
• A takeaway from LeBron's lesson
• Seems Darwin was right
• Unintended consequences. Are you ready?
• Good, Better, Best
• When does having the lowest price make sense?
• Competing with Walmart on price: Fools do it.
• Sleepin' with Adobe
• Someone in Wyoming
• Oil, water and the pharmacy
• Business and Morals: Oil and water?
• Skinny kids
• Four, Eleven, Sixty-six
• Customer service and the cable guy
• What would You Airlines look like?

May 2007

• What can you learn from a spammer?
• Take a break
• Point of no sale
• 5 reasons why your business needs a newsletter, part 5
• 5 reasons why your business needs a newsletter, part 4
• Welcome Beacon readers....Why ANOTHER newspaper?
• The boys of summer
• 5 reasons why your business needs a newsletter, part 3
• 5 reasons why your business needs a newsletter, part 2
• A bouncing baby newspaper
• 5 reasons why your business needs a newsletter - part 1
• "Anything you have to do often, you shouldn't have to do at all"
• Little Subaru plus huge moose equals trouble
• $107 million in .44 seconds
• Dangerous boys vs play dates
• Scientific Advertising
• Raving Fans
• Sirota, Sharpton & Montana's economy
• I really don't admire your socks, or your butt.
• How are your beans ground?
• 5 figures for a pair of fresh eyes?
• AdWords is my ONE today.
• Are your headlines THIS good?
• You are to blame for so-called cheap customers
• More about testing your business
• "Animal" testing is a good thing
• Where are the CEOs?
• Visiting with Dave Taylor

April 2007

• Ballmer in USA Today
• Why are you here?
• Think and take advantage.
• What Clients Love
• Getting beyond the irony of ethics
• Every day, someone is trying to put you out of business.
• "Problem customers", Gold, and Fools
• Real Time with the Guvnah
• Elected Official Exceeds Expectations. What's next?
• There's a new sheriff in town
• Amazon pump fakes, goes right, dunks.
• Tinkering around with Glyphius, a scientific copywriting analyzer
• Remember me? I'm the customer standing here in front of you.
• How do wireless internet and screaming kids help a brake store get business?
• Hunger, and advice about giving advice
• Another state legislator tries out a do-not-mail law

March 2007

• Tainted dog food, Oprah and the deafening silence
• Internet banking, static IP addresses & corporate service
• Is your company ready for you to hit the road?
• E-Myth
• Marketing is everywhere...even in Scout troops
• Is your business, or some part of it, on autopilot?
• 80, 15 and 5 - and how it relates to NxLevel
• Statistics don't lie, can they point out which politicians do?
• What scares a global Fortune 200 CEO?
• Tom Peters, Geeks, Women and WalMart
• Pale, Male and Stale?
• Competition is a funny thing
• SeaTac DoubleTree & Livingston's Comfort Inn - service with more than a smile
• The public makes it SO easy on us marketing types
• Put Donald Trump in charge of Walter Reed
• Is your coffee shop someone's office? Want to keep it that way?
• Do you lick the marshmallow, or just gobble it down?

February 2007

• Small Business Blogging 101
• Finding a personal assistant
• Small Business Blogging 101
• The Radical Leap - Steve Farber
• 12 things to blog about if you own an outdoor power equipment store
• The business lesson in Britney and Anna Nicole
• Death by Tarmac? What JetBlue needs to do.
• Misguided Montana bill proposes to eliminate so-called "junk mail"
• TV, James Brausch and the slight edge
• Bank of America - Spineless?
• Thick Face, Black Heart - Chin-Ning Chu
• Referral of a Lifetime - Tim Templeton
• NASCAR's 2007 Daytona 500 - further proof of the slight edge
• Cell phones in the urinal and other business insanity
• What first impression does your business give people?
• Bank of America carding illegal immigrants - brilliant
• Ovando, Montana
• Business owners: What would you blog about your biz?
• "All you have to do is go where the customers are..."
• Seeking a pulse at The Daily Interlake
• Hamilton and Walmart - Back on the rails
• Selling candy bars via a joint venture
• Tom Peters on Beating WalMart

January 2007

• Amazing customer experiences - is your business giving them?
• Trump has to be thinking "Didnt your mom ever teach you...
• The Apprentice that quit, and secret shopping to win
• Hanson Trucking understands that little things make a difference
• Fine tune your marketing message with a free "USP Workshop"
• I got a makeover
• Valentine's Day marketing isn't for me, it has nothing to do with my business.
• Got your Super Bowl marketing going yet?
• Hamilton MT v. WalMart, step 2 (continued)
• Hamilton MT v. WalMart, step 2
• Hamilton retailers v. WalMart, step 1
• Havre Montana WalMart opens today (Jan 19, 2007)
• Miles City WalMart SuperCenter info
• WalMart's expansion in Montana: How to keep an eye on it.
• "Pink is the new Black". Not in Trump's eyes.
• Stay at Hampton during the Holidays
• Hamilton gets the gift that keeps on taking.
• Bush gives Phil Zimmerman the ultimate "I told you so"
• December retail sales were down...
• Do it FOR me.

December 2006

• Can you sleep when the wind blows?
• I caught the USPS getting it.
• Would you rather your customers were satisfied or loyal? How about your WIFE?
• Never Eat Alone
• Execution - The discipline of getting things done
• The Blog Moving truck came.
• Frugal and smart
• Jim Rohn is on top of his shopping cart. Are you?
• Gift Card Fraud talk is mostly bogus, says EWeek
• ONE. Bad number for a business.
• Yo office is SO ugly...SMART.
• "One is the loneliest number that you'll ever do."

November 2006

• Do more than you needed to, make the experience memorable.
• Surprise: IT magazine says customer service quality is down. Really.
• "Dear Valued Customer"
• When's the last time you had FUN at the airport?

October 2006

• Stuff You Gotta Read
• The Simple Truths of Service - Inspired by Johnny the Bagger
• Obvious Adams
• WAYMISH

September 2006

• Postcards from heaven!
• Sniff. Sniff. Does your website stink?
• Losing customers? What ARE you thinking?
• Denny Rehberg needs a marketing consultant. Hint: 866-997-7634.
• HP's board and CEO just don't get it
• Even Joe Dirt gets it
• Crikey...Steve could've been a better parent
• "[NCLB] has sucked the joy out of teaching"

August 2006

• Business startups - 5 myths of starting a business
• Radio Shack
• Your business vs. Brad and Angelina
• "Do as I say, Not as I Did"

July 2006

• Psychocybernetics
• Do they talk about you? I hope so.

June 2006

• Think and Grow Rich
• Blink
• Freakonomics

May 2006

• To be, or not to be intimidated? That is the question
• Influence
• DogEars
• Print THIS!
• How to keep a bookstore from being sticky
• Be different or die
• Why thank them?

April 2006

• Pulling your hair out over no-shows?

March 2006

• Corporate "I dont get it"-itis

November 2005

• Upshaw and Owens: Losers no matter what the score
• A perfect storm of follow ups
• Getting it in Vegas

October 2005

• No news is good news?
• Your people are like a typewriter
• Success, 37 cents at a time

September 2005

• You are a bad employee

August 2005

• Where's the upsell?

July 2005

• Round rubber

June 2005

• Trailernomics
• They know where I live...

April 2005

• Living under a rock
• Web hosts with a clue
• Talk to the animals

March 2005

• Golf - Its such hard work

February 2005

• Prime cut

January 2005

• What makes the Sun come up?