How To Double Your Profits By Giving Customers What They Want
“The difference between selling and service is inversely proportional to the quality of the product.” – MMF Last week I met with a travel agency that has been struggling to bring its fledgling business into profitability. In the period of time Ive worked with this agency, it has made a…
READ MOREHow To Make Your Business Immeasurably Better
“Small leaks sink the big ships.” – American proverb One of the ideas Im going to come back to over and over again is what I call the theory of incremental degradation that you can eventually ruin your business by making many very small downgrades in the quality of…
READ MOREIntroduction To Writing Space Ads That Boost Your Business
“We promise according to our hopes, and perform according to our fears.” – La Rouchefoucault, MaximsSpace ads are the advertisements you see in newspapers and magazines. For professional copywriters, space ads are great because they are limited in scope and still demand high fees (and sometimes royalties). For the entrepreneur…
READ MOREHow Much Should You Pay Yourself?
”Self-Esteem: An erroneous appraisement” – Ambrose Bierce, The Devils Dictionary Recently, Fortune Small Business magazine did a story on executive compensation. It cited the case of two San Diego entrepreneurs who started a high-end home-furnishings business (the Richard Fischer Collection) with the long-term goal of getting wealthy. But getting there…
READ MOREWhere Should You Be Doing Business?
A famous business publication interviewed me once and asked me this question: “If every one of your marketing concepts but one was taken away, which would you hold on to at any price?” I didn’t need a second to think about the question. I immediately answered that I’d never give…
READ MOREIf You’re Lucky Enough To Be In The Company Of A Successful Businessman, Ask Questions – And Learn
I recently had lunch with Ted Nicholas, the advertising guru and self-made millionaire not very impressive by todays standards. Still, he leads an enviable life. Married to a beautiful, intelligent, younger woman, he lives in Switzerland and Florida, travels extensively, plays top-level tennis, and works when he wants and…
READ MOREHow To Knock Off Your Employer And Have Your Own Business
Todays memo was inspired by a news article about two name-challenged engineers who are, according to Floridas Palm Beach Post, the brains behind (a) Billion Dollar Deal. Fahri Diner and Xiang-Dong Cao were sitting around after work having a few beers (Im making up the details) and complaining about their…
READ MOREHow To Get Rich (Still) On The Internet
“A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry; but money answereth all things.” – Song of Solomon The Internet will surely go down in history as the most oversold economic phenomenon of the 20th century. The high-tech stock market, with its Alice-in-Wonderland valuations, is just the most egregious…
READ MOREWhy You Should Raise Your Prices On A Regular Basis
“Experience is what you get when you didnt get what you wanted.” – Anonymous When Norm Brodsky writes about business, I listen to him. A veteran entrepreneur whose six businesses include two in the $100 million range, Brodsky writes the occasional essay for Inc. magazine. Recently, he wrote a piece…
READ MOREWhy Higher Pricing Sells
“How to figure your cost of living: Take your income and add 10%.” – Anonymous We have talked about perceived value what it is, why it is important, and how you can use it to dramatically increase your gross margins. Id like to continue that discussion today. Let’s start with…
READ MORERetiring In Paradise
On Friday I got carried away with selling you beachfront property in Nicaragua. I meant to introduce my Big Idea to solve your Big Retirement Problem (i.e., you cant have one). The Big Idea that will solve your Big Problem with retirement . The idea of retirement is a recent one.…
READ MOREWhen To Charge More Than The Competition
“My family pride is something inconceivable. I cant help it. I was born sneering.” – Sir William Schweneck Gilbert (1836-1911), British librettist Ive talked to you about the power of cheap pricing. I made the case that for many start-up businesses the most efficient way to successfully enter a market…
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