I just finished reading Guy Kawasaki’s book “Enchantment, The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds and Actions.” I my first encounter with Kawasaki was when I read “Ten Ways to use LinkedIn” on his blog How to Change the World. He is an author, venture capitalist in Silicon Valley and former chief evangelist at Apple Computers. This isn’t a review of … Read More
Most people that go to a Disney theme park have a good, sometimes great story to tell. In reading the book “Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions” by Guy Kawasaki, I read a personal story in which the individual tells of a situation in which a Disney employee “enchanted him for life.” This prompted me to tell my little … Read More
Let’s go shopping at the “Wort & Must Co.”? Can you imagine what you might find in this store? If you are a beer or wine making enthusiast you might know that “wort” is the big pot of fermenting liquid in the initial stage of beer making and “must” is that infusion of fermenting wine. This is a very strong name for a local business. It does take a level of understanding to appreciate … Read More
In a previous post I gave my insight into a mistake business owners make when naming their business. Today’s post looks at another mistake; choosing a business name which will be first in an alphabetical listing. Think of a number between one and five, write that many “A”s followed by the work Aardvark. The more “A”s you have the closer to … Read More
I started a post a while ago planning to discuss naming your business with a thought of making suggestions about things I think work well and some that just don’t. That post is still in draft status but one thought I want to tackle now. One of the biggest mistakes a small business owner can make when naming their business … Read More
The Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle, WA is famous for WOWing people. This is the fish market that is famous for throwing fish. It’s a little bit of theatre and a must do on most Seattle visitors’ itineraries. This is a company worth emulating and it is easy to learn from John Yokoyama’s great company. He and long time business coach … Read More
A century ago, in small towns around North America, everyone in a community knew everyone else. You also knew all of the merchants and they knew you. Merchants were responsive to the needs and wants of their community. Customers could offer feedback and merchants listened. Fast forward to today and in many ways we find ourselves in a very similar environment. With the Internet … Read More
I will start with what I consider a missed opportunity. A young woman, let’s call her Stephanie, has drawn a name for a company gift exchange. The individual she draws if British so Stephanie decides to put together a gift basket and include some English tea. She goes to a shop for the tea, and after she gets it home … Read More
One of my top ten favorite business books is “Customers for Life” by Dallas car dealer Carl Sewell. He’s one of the business owners I respect because he understand Retail DNA. I will refer to this book from time to time to discuss lessons for all of us in retail. For today’s post I will just share two ideas from Sewell. The first comes … Read More
In the past I had a client that had what I think is a brilliant philosophy about her business. First let me tell you a bit about Bev. She told me she started selling teas and coffees at flea markets. In time she and her family grew the company to have two locations in her market place selling top quality kitchen accessories. … Read More