Tag Archives: small business advice

Advertising Effectively

I’ve heard it three times in the 24 hours since returning from my vacation; “I’m spending a lot of money on marketing, but I don’t know how effective it is.” The problem goes back for as long as there’s been … Continue Reading

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With My Apologies to Ray Davies

“Sooo tired, tired of waiting. tired of waiting for youuu.” For those of you who weren’t weaned on British Invasion Rock’n’Roll, Ray Davies is the lead singer and songwriter of The Kinks. One of their earliest hits was “Tired of … Continue Reading

Posted in Business Perspectives, Customer Relations, John's Opinions, Managing Employees, Marketing, Sales, Strategy and Planning | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

See Spot Run- A simple approach to up and downsizing

In a TAB Board meeting yesterday we were discussing how you know when it’s time to add an employee. I recalled an old method I’ve used, and it occurs to me that it can also work in reverse if you … Continue Reading

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Through the Eyes of a Reporter

We had David Hendricks of the San Antonio Express News at one of our Board meetings last week. It’s always interesting to see yourself through someone else’s eyes, David’s column is fair. It accurately describes what actually went on in … Continue Reading

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It’s a crisis…uh, no it’s not. Wait…

The Washington Post today announced that the UN’s World Health Organization has upgraded the H1N1 flu virus to a Category 6 Pandemic. It is worldwide, and appears to be gearing up for the Southern Hemisphere’s winter season. For those who … Continue Reading

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Happy (tweet) Fathers’ Day (from your child via FaceBook)

My wife was working on the vacuum cleaner today. Despite my intention to be a lazy slob all day, I decided to pitch in. A short diagnosis let me do a temporary repair, and sent me to the Internet to … Continue Reading

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Key Performance Indicators

I developed this piece for my peer group clients in The Alternative Board® A number of them have said it’s greatly clarified their understanding of what Key Performance Indicators were, and how to approach them. So I share it here… … Continue Reading

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Is It Time for Courage?

A friend of mine occasionally shares his copy of EcoTrends®. This research newsletter tracks 41 different economic indicators. Since I’m not actually a subscriber, I refer you to their site if you’re interested in the details of their analysis. The … Continue Reading

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Is Less Bad Good?

The government is proclaiming the beginning of the beginning of the end. “Only” 540,000 new people lost their jobs last month, instead of 620,000. The somewhat panicky tone that has characterised these communiques continues. A one month drop, especially following … Continue Reading

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All for one…one for all

The individual incentive, whether monetary or non-monetary, seems logical. It fits best with sales people, who are the most familiar examples when we think of employee incentives. What kind of people would work harder for a group incentive? Actually, there … Continue Reading

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All for one…me

Continuing the discussion on employee incentives. We have four possible combinations for incentives, monetary/group, monetary/individual, non-monetary/group and non-monetary/individual. How can we determine which incentives will work best? Sometimes the answer is trial and error. There are many good reasons to … Continue Reading

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